National Youth Conference emphasises crucial link between health and education

Sep 06, 2013 News

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In light of the fact that the youth population has been identified as a main target in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the Ministry of Health through the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) on Tuesday commenced a two-day National Youth Conference at the East Coast Demerara, Grand Coastal Inn.
And according to the NAPS Programme Manager, Dr Shanti Singh, the conference comes on the backdrop of the HiVision 2020, Guyana’s HIV Strategic Plan, in which youths have been defined as a targeted population for action. This, she said, is quite similar to the regional recognition made by Ministers of Health and Youth at a special session last year.

Moreover, Dr Singh noted that “these two days of addressing health are important as we will chart the course and define the road map, and identify the best suited interventions that would positively impact the health of our young people and indeed the health of our nation.” This move, she pointed out, is even demonstrated by the World Bank in its ecological model on youth development.
And since health issues affecting youths are numerous, the conference was designed to serve as a forum to highlight several concerns which will help to formulate intense discussion and create a network of youths. This anticipated network, Dr Singh noted, would have health on its agenda, which ultimately incorporates HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections and other social issues that indirectly affect the health of youths.
Moreover, the conference is expected to define key priority areas for action as it relates to the health of youths for the next three years.
And in order to guide the discussions, with a view of realising methods of interventions, Dr Singh disclosed that some very specific social determinants of health were expected to be discussed at the forum. These are defined by the World Health Organisation as the conditions in which people are born, grow, work and age.
As such, Dr Singh added that the social determinants of health are the circumstances in which people live, that is, their economic, political, social, environmental and cultural conditions which, by extension, will affect the health of young people.
She said that education is also a major factor since there is clear evidence linking the educational involvement and attainment in early life with later health outcomes.
Studies, Dr Singh observed, have demonstrated that completion of secondary school provides greater benefits for “adolescents’ improving health and wellbeing, improving (youths) capacity and motivating them to prevent pregnancy; empowering them to take responsibility for their own lives and for improving the lives of others.”
It is also recognised, Dr Singh said, that education improves survival of children even as she noted that countries with a greater proportion of their young people in education had lower male and female mortality as well as lower male injury mortality and lower female non-communicable diseases mortality.
Dr Singh disclosed too that higher education participation was also associated with lower HIV prevalence.  And since there is emerging evidence that connections with schools protect against a wide range of health risk behaviour, the forum, Dr Singh said, was also designed to consider programmes that improve the secondary school environment and connectedness as the most promising large scale interventions for improving health outcomes in adolescents and young people.
“I look forward to the commitment of the teachers, the Ministry of Education and all involved in the education sector to ensure that we improve the health outcome among our young people,” Dr Singh asserted.
Moreover, the conference, held under the theme “Health Priorities for Youth” was premised on the need to address the sexual and reproductive health of youths, even as it amplified the importance of access to information and treatment surrounding sexually transmitted infections. It was also intended to foster a mindset among youths to delay the onset of their first sexual encounter even as they gain a better understanding of cervical cancer prevention and treatment and the creation of safe spaces for youths.
The two-day conference, which culminated Wednesday, was characterised by interactive sessions surrounding the findings of research, young key affected populations  and their vulnerabilities to HIV; the status of youths as it relates to HIV/AIDS/STIs, the status of girls as it relates to Teenage Pregnancy, vulnerability among the male youth population, among other issues.
The youth conference was supported by the United Nations Agency for International Develop (USAID) which was represented by its Country Coordinator Dr Roberto Campos. The forum also saw representation from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport in the person of Permanent Secretary, Alfred King, and members of the Red Ribbon and other youth groups.

 

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