Health Experts Meet In Jinja

By Jossy Muhangi EXPERTS and stake holders in adolescent reproductive health are meeting in Jinja to lay strategies on the implementation of a US$15m project to address the concerns of the youth. The African Youth Alliance (AYA) expected to last five years effective 2001, is sponsored by renown Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the US committee for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The co-ordinator of the Programme, Dr. Lorna Tumwebaze, said at the Jinja Nile Resort on Tuesday that its activities focusing on adolescents aged 10-24 will be implemented by three partners including the UNFPA, the Path Finder and Programme for Appropriate technology in Health (PATH). Dr. Tumwebaze said the Programme will work with other existing interventions by government and other agencies in Uganda to provide adolescent friendly health services on HIV /AIDS with emphasis on prevention. She said it was necessary to form alliances with other stakeholders like government institutions, cultural leaders and agencies, in areas of behavioral change communication (BCC), livelihood skills, capacity building and information dissemination. The Programme targets the young people, especially in the school-going and tertiary beneficiaries like parents, teachers, religious groups and government policy makers. Ends