Youth to access information on reproductive health
Savana Signatures, a benevolent organisation that uses Information Communication Technology (ICT) to promote development, has launched a programme aimed at assisting the youth to access information on reproductive health.
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The programme dubbed, “SHE” is an acronym for Sexual Health Education and it is designed to educate young people about sexual reproductive health and their rights to it.
Speaking at the launch of the programme, the Executive Director of Savana Signatures, Mr Stephen Agbenyo, said the programme allowed anybody who uses a mobile phone to access information on reproductive health without having to pay for it.
“The platform is free and allows young people both male and female with mobile phones to access information by simply texting “SHE” to 7000 on MTN, 1904 for Airtel, Expresso and Vodafone”, he stated.
He said the project formed part of Savana Signature’s effort to use ICT tools to promote sexual reproductive health and rights in the three northern regions and the Volta Region and to augment government’s drive to achieve the Millennium Development Goal five, which is on improving maternal health.
He said his organisation was using the same technology to implement a maternal health project in six health facilities in the Northern Region where expectant mothers received weekly Short Message Service (SMS) in English and voice calls in Dagbani for those who could not read.
He said Savana Signatures “is also implementing a project referred to as the “World Starts With Me” (WSWM), a computer based comprehensive sexual education programme in four schools in the Northern Region and four others in the Upper West Region using computers to educate teachers and students on sexual reproductive health and rights”.
Mr Agbenyo said the project was supported by TEXT TO CHANGE, a Netherlands based organisation that sets up interactive mobile campaigns disseminating relevant information and collecting data from end-users using their own mobile handsets.
An official of TEXT TO CHANGE, Mr Arjen Swank, said his organisation used the same technology to carry out HIV awareness in East Africa with so much success.
He expressed optimism that the same success would be achieved in Ghana as regards the reproductive health education using the mobile phone technology.
