By Yunus S Saliu
The Curriculum Research, Evaluation and Development Directorate (CREDD) of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) Tuesday completed a two-day training course on comprehensive health education (CHE) with Scores of journalists.
The well attended training held at the NaNA complex in Bakau brought together some experienced health writers from different media houses.
Speaking on behalf of the Director of CREDD at the opening of the training course was Fatou Bittaye Cham. She highlighted on important of journalists as regarding dissemination of information and “we feel is easier to get you onboard as the right people to disseminate the message of comprehensive health education as many are listening to your radio stations, reading your newspapers, and watching your television stations and as well through social media.”
Since you are chosen as the right channel for the dissemination of this important issue, “it is equally important that you understanding the CHE so that you can give out the right information to your audience and followers out there,” she stated.
She emphasized that strengthening access to quality comprehensive health education in The Gambia is very important not just to in-and-out of school children, but to individual adults as it talks about “how to take care of yourself starting from childhood to adulthood.”
The Principal Investigator of the project – strengthening access to quality comprehensive health education in The Gambia expressed delights in having corps of health writers to attend the training course on the CHE.
She noted that the training was proposed by the participants who had first attended the preliminary orientation of the research findings of strengthening access to quality comprehensive health education in The Gambia few months ago. Therefore, she said, “with this training we want you to take ownership of this to start talking about it. This is because most people out there don’t have the knowledge about reproductive health.”
The Principal Investigator added further that the training is purely about reproductive health which involved puberty, menstruation, menstrual hygiene, ovulation, unplanned and unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion sexually transmitted diseases, use of contraceptive among adolescents, FGM/C and among other topics.
The participants were trained by some competent doctors and experts included Dr Musa Marena whose lecture centered on puberty and reproduction; reproductive health law by Dr Daffeh; Dr J Sey-Sawo covered unwanted pregnancy; ethics and ethical issues in reproductive health by Musa Nget; and implementation training on CHE with the press by Ousman Dem SBCC principal programme officer (NaNA), Mass Laye presentation was on FGM while menstrual cycle was presented by Dr Marena
All journalists completed the CHE course was certificated at the close of the training.
