Include men in reproductive health education - WOMEC

Dr. Charity Binka, Executive Director of Women Media and Change (WOMEC) has reiterated the call for men to be included in reproductive health education.

She said men had more authority in making decisions on birth control, and that leaving them out was disastrous as "it takes two people to produce a human being”.

Dr. Binka was speaking at a community interface and media training on women, new-born, children and adolescent wellbeing, organised by the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR) in Collaboration with WOMEC.

She said one of the reasons why family healthcare was not making progress was that the bulk of the pressure associated with birth control, multiple births, and child welfare had been heaped on women alone.

Dr. Binka noted that reproductive health entailed not only childbirth, but the whole body system, and therefore it was important that men were educated on caring for all stages of the maternal body.

She said men also had reproductive issues and should be able to access reproductive health services, and be educated.

Dr. Binka said reproductive health rights were among the core human rights, and must be given equal attention as child abuse, human trafficking, female genital mutilation among others, and called on stakeholders to ensure that everybody had access to reproductive services.

She further called on the media to go beyond their scheduled duties to report on accessibility, affordability and quality healthcare in communities.

The training was to discuss and address issues of women, children and adolescent health rights, using the Community Score Cards (CSC) in some community health centres and CHPS compounds in four communities in the South Dayi District.

Mr. Nathaniel Adzotor, South Dayi District Coordinating Director, commended ARHR and WOMEC for the initiative, adding that it would help improve the attitude of the community members towards health.

Mrs. Patience Nunoo, South Dayi District Health Director also commended ARHR and WOMEC for the training, and expressed the hope that the initiative would help improve reproductive healthcare in the District.