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From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Nigeria has unveiled a 26-page comic magazine aimed at promoting menstrual health education among adolescent girls and young women.
The book also addressed the stigma associated with menstruation in Nigerian communities.
The magazine was launched on Thursday at the foundation’s office in Abuja as part of efforts to provide young girls with accessible and relatable information on menstrual health and hygiene.
The publication illustrates some of the challenges confronting the girl child in Nigeria, particularly inadequate menstrual education, cultural misconceptions and the stigma surrounding menstruation.
The organisation, which noted that nearly two billion people menstruate globally, while about 500 million experience period poverty, said there was a need for improved access to menstrual health information and hygiene resources, especially easily relatable information that could attract the attention of young women and girls.
In many Nigerian communities, cultural taboos discourage open discussions about menstruation, restrict access to accurate sexual and reproductive health information and prevent girls and women from seeking appropriate care.
AHF Nigeria said its comic magazine sought to address these challenges by educating readers on menstrual health management, correcting misinformation and promoting positive attitudes towards menstruation.
It also provides practical information on maintaining personal hygiene and staying healthy during menstruation, while encouraging boys and men to become advocates and allies in promoting menstrual health.
Speaking at the launch, AHF Nigeria’s Senior Advocacy and Marketing Manager, Mr Steve Aborisade, stressed the need to intensify awareness of menstrual health education among adolescents and young women, particularly to eliminate the stigma that has hindered advocacy efforts over the years.
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Aborisade expressed confidence that the comic format would make the publication interesting and easily understandable to its target audience, encouraging young people to embrace and share the information.
He said, “We reckon that the target audience for the comic magazine would find the message in it interesting and easily embrace it for their benefits and they too can help share the message accordingly.”
The AHF Nigeria Country Programme Director, Dr Echey Ijezie, who presided over the launch, disclosed that the foundation planned to translate the publication into several Nigerian languages to expand its reach and make its message accessible to more young people.
Ijezie said the foundation would also collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Education and explore educational outreach programmes to promote the magazine as a tool for menstrual health awareness.
According to him, “It is imperative to ensure that our target audience are reached in no distant future. We would work with the Federal Ministry of Education and explore the outreaches to use them as education and awareness tools.”
Also speaking, Mrs Osaro Osa-Jarikre of the Child Development Department, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, who represented the Minister, said the ministry would incorporate AHF’s programmes into its forthcoming policy initiatives targeted at advancing the welfare and development of the girl child.
She described the foundation as a valuable partner in promoting the interests of young girls in Nigeria and pledged the ministry’s support for its initiatives.
“Our ministry has resolved to carry the AHF along in the various programmes we have designed for the girl child in Nigeria, and we are also ready to offer needed support to the foundation in its quest to upgrade the Nigerian young generation,” Osa-Jarikre said.
The launch was attended by the AHF Nursing Manager, Dr Charity Awunor; the State Clinical Coordinator, Dr Ugochi Ajaero; Binta Jalo of the Kids & Teens Resource Centre, Abuja; Taiwo Ajani of Lawyers Alert, Abuja; representatives of civil society organisations; and members of the Girls Act.
