DUSHANBE, April 30, 2013, Asia-Plus – A workshop on development and adaptation of the tool for certification of Youth Friendly Health Services (YFHS) in Tajikistan kicked off in Dushanbe on April 30.
Organized by the Ministry of Health of Tajikistan with support from UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Tajikistan, the event has brought together more than 60 participants, including high level officials of the Ministry of Health, representatives from youth organizations, young people themselves and development partners attend the workshop.
According to press release issued by the UNICEF CO in Tajikistan, a three-day workshop is discussing youth participation in monitoring and assessment of the quality and coverage of services provided to young people in 21 YFHS facilities across Tajikistan. It also aims to demonstrate how a good practice of constructive dialogue between adolescents and adults improves adolescents’ access to information, services and care.
More than a decade ago UNICEF in partnership with development agencies began supporting the Government of Tajikistan to promote the rights of adolescents to have access to quality health services that were friendly to vulnerable young people. This partnership involved WHO, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria (GFATM), United Nation’s Population Fund (UNFPA), Population Service International (PSI) and other donors.
The cost-benefit analysis conducted with support of UNICEF in 2008 revealed the value of cost-savings to the health sector that would result from averted sexually-transmitted infections (STI). It also showed that outreach work, counseling, and treatment of STIs were the most cost-effective interventions to prevent HIV/AIDS. As a result, the operation of all 21 YFHS facilities is currently funded from the state budget.
“In the last two years, more than TJS 500,000 from the state budget was allocated and spent to cover capital and recurrent costs of the selected YFHS. The national program on Young People’s Healthy Development and Participation considers the YFHS as the one of the most cost effective program to promote the right of young people to reproductive health and halt STI/HIV/AIDS in Tajikistan,” says Ms. Saida Jobirova, First Deputy Minister of Health of Tajikistan.
“The state funding of YFHS operations demonstrates the strong commitment of the Government of Tajikistan in promoting the right of adolescents to receive quality health services. Now, by involving youth in monitoring and assessment of the quality of YFHS, the Government also supports youth’s rights to express themselves and contribute to improvement of services provided to them by the state” says Ms. Laylee Moshiri, UNICEF Representative in Tajikistan.
