From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Federal Government and some medical experts have tasked Nigerians to take care of their health.
The advice was given during a 3-day stakeholder meeting in Abuja, which had in attendance representatives of The White Ribbon Alliance, Nigeria (WRAN), World Health Organization (WHO), John Snow Incorporated (JSI), Society For Family Health (SFH), Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria Foundation (PSNF), and Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH).
The Programmes and Advocacy Manager White Ribbon Alliance, Nigeria, Jennifer Adebambo, explained that “self-care is the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider continues to empower women to manage their sexual and reproductive health no matter their location.”
Adebambo said the meeting featured the Evidence and Learning Working Group (ELWG) of the Self-Care Trailblazer Group (established with the goal of advancing global self-care for SRMH), which shared global standards for the measurement of sexual and reproductive health self-care and global priority indicators for managing self-care interventions as an adaptable resource across countries.
“The tool was used as a key resource for the development of a national self-care monitoring framework for self-care interventions.
“Recall that Nigeria launched the National Guidelines on Self-care for Sexual, Reproductive and Maternal Health in 2022 and continues to be a trailblazer in global SRMH self-care through its adoption of Self Care interventions that cover self-injectables, self-testing and other key self-care products.
“The tool will be used to review the Country’s performance and outcomes of self-care interventions in line with global standards and best practices,” she added.