Dr Robert K. Mensah, Reproductive Health Specialist with UNFPA, has appealed to humanitarian organisations to fulfill the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of displaced adolescents in crisis.
This he said would protect them from sexual violence and sexually transmitted diseases and early pregnancy. He made the appealed during a media orientation workshop on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Communication in emergencies held in Tamale. The event organised by the UNFPA in Tamale was to equip the media on sexual reproductive health programme in the Northern Region.
He also noted that there should be a mapping exercise to identify evolving good practices that could guide an expansion and scaled up response. He urged the media to create awareness on the need for adolescent sexual and reproductive health programmes in humanitarian settings including access to family planning the use of condom.
Dr Mensah also recommended that governments and other humanitarian organisations should address sexual and reproductive health risks for teenagers when there was crisis situations. This should be able to measure services in emergencies which could also reduce maternal mortality, mitigate vulnerability to unwanted pregnancy, and improve health and development outcomes in the country.