Technology aiding youths to voice out health concerns
Youths in Bangwe Township in Blantyre have welcomed the introduction of a social mobile application to enable them give feedback on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services after accessing the same at health centres.
Southern Africa HIV and Aids Information Dissemination Services (SafAids), through Active Youth Initiative for Social Enhancement (Ayise), introduced the MobiSafAids application in April this year. It is part of the Transforming Lives Programme to influence policy in sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) and access to youth-friendly information and services.
During a youth familiarisation music show Ayise organised at Bangwe Youth Centre on Sunday, its executive director Marcel Chisi said the application has so far registered 1 330 youths, out of which 330 have already filed their concerns on how they were treated at various health centres.
He said through the application, youths file their complaints if mistreated by nurses or medical officers before the district health office gets instant alert online and notifies the centre’s director to ensure the complainant is assisted accordingly.
SafAids social accountability specialist Percy Ngwerume said they are happy that the pilot phase has received overwhelming response.
Mary Chazemba, a registered youth, said many of their SRH issues were not being addressed at health centres where “we were mistreated and had nowhere to complain”.
