Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/cervical-cancer-65-educating-girls-abou...
Dear Amal,
It is wonderful to hear about your experience as a midwife in Somalia. Thank you so much for the six messages you have already shared with us.
In your last message you noted the following approaches are helpful:
"1. Starting education early to receive appropriate information about puberty, menstruation, personal hygiene, and changes in their bodies before and during adolescence.
2. Mothers and other trusted female members can play an important role in creating safe spaces where girls feel comfortable asking questions without fear and embarrassment.
3. In my opinion, schools can provide culturally appropriate reproductive health education, helping girls understand their bodies and recognise when they need medical advice.
4. Also midwives and other healthcare workers can support girls and women through community education, respectful communication, and confidential non judgmental healthcare services."
Please would you be able to say a bit more about the above? Can you describe health and education services in Somalia and especially your personal experience?
For example:
1 & 3. Is reproductive health education widely available? Do you have any personal experience of this or perhaps you know teachers who provide such education?
2. The importance of mothers and trusted female relatives and friends. This hasn't been highlighted in our discussion so far. Female relatives and friends are likely the most prevalent source of information (and possibly, inadvertenly, misinformation). Can you share any examples from your experience?
4. Can you share any examples of how midwives provide community education? I would imagine that most of the communication is in the context of clinical encounters, but perhaps some midwives are engaged in further activities, including outreach?
I would also encourage HIFA members in other countries to reflect on these questions and share your experience. We have heard from Dominican Republic, India, Somalia... To build a more complete picture we welcome inputs from other countries.
Please send email to: hifa@hifaforums.org
Thank you again for your generous sharing
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org