The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Mrs Toyin Oke-Osayintolu, has stated that many adolescents and young people lack access to basic health care services in Nigeria.
Oke-Osayintolu disclosed this in her keynote address at the 23rd Biennial Conference of Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria, Lagos Branch, with the theme, ‘Investing in Health, Education and Well- being of Adolescent and Young People’.
She pointed out that adolescents in Nigeria are a vulnerable segment of the population who are confronted by challenges related to their overall well-being struggle including poverty, discrimination, violence, abuse and exploitation.
These, challenges, according to her, had significant impact on their mental and physical health.
She disclosed that the present administration in Lagos State had prioritised the youth as evident in its T.H.E.M.E.S Plus Developmental Agenda of Social Gender Equality and Youth Engagement.
“The Ministry of Youth and Social Development has continued to provide an enabling environment for youths,” she said.
Also speaking, Chairman of the conference, Maj-Gen Shina Ogunbiyi (rtd.), called on the association to improve by following policies based on promoting general inequalities, collaboration within the medical community and providing mentorship and support for female medical workers.
The 23rd President of MWAN Lagos Branch for 2021-2023 Biennium, Dr Ibironke Sodeinde, also noted that the youths of today are the elders and responsible leaders of tomorrow.
Sodeinde stressed that that the focus of the biennium had always been on diversity, inclusiveness, branded leadership and reward stewardship.
“Everyone is a stakeholder in all these hence the clarion call for us to invest our skills, materials, funds, resilience and reactiveness with concepts to learn new things, unlearn bad things and relearn appropriate things. This should be in accordance with the ever increasing trends of advanced technology with some probable uncertainties of options. We can’t continue to do things in the same way and get different and more impactful results. On this note, it is time again to talk, brainstorm and act accordingly,” she said.
