Flavia Bustreo, Assistant Director-General – Family, Women’s and Children’s Health has urged the federal government to provide quality health education for girls so that they will be able to make better choices when they become women.
Bustreo said as girls become sexually active, they need health services that are confidential, and that address their needs in a comprehensive manner.
She said “At this moment, somewhere in virtually any country in the world, there’s a 12-year-old girl scared and confused because she does not know why she is bleeding. She is unaware and unprepared for the changes occurring in her body as a result of puberty. No one ever told her about menstruation and she does not know where to seek help.
“Around the world, far too many girls learn about menstruation on the day their period starts. It may seem shocking or absurd that this happens, but many girls aren’t educated about sexual and reproductive health. Their families, communities and schools have failed them.
“As girls become sexually active, they require an integrated package of services, including contraception methods, access to safe abortions to the full extent of the law, management of the consequences from unsafe abortion, testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections and sensitive care following sexual violence. Most important, they need health services that are confidential, and that address their needs in a comprehensive manner.”