Health & Sanitation
HEALTH AND SANITATION
Improving the health of all persons in communities is a crucial part of a productive population. Through our work in communities around the nation, we focus on improving the health outcomes of women and children, especially those in hard-to-reach areas. Our interventions focus on menstrual Health & Hygiene management education, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, HIV/AIDS, Maternal & Child Health, Gender-based violence, mental health, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH).
PDICH delivers quality health education programs in line with the 2030 target of Sustainable Development Goals, especially for the underserved and vulnerable population through sensitization, testing and counselling, education, amongst others.
Menstrual Health
‘Menstrual Health’ is the term used to describe menstrual hygiene management practices and the broader interventions that link menstruation to health, wellbeing, gender equality, education, empowerment and rights. Menstruation is a natural process and sign of good health which is connected to the reproductive cycle of women and adolescent girls. Menstruation is not a disease but may cause health challenges if not properly managed and can be compounded by social, cultural and religious practices.
We work on menstrual health incorporating other episodes of bleeding between menarche and menopause and refer to these as ‘different types of vaginal bleeding. We focus is on women and girls, although we identify that some women and girls don’t menstruate due to health or anatomical reasons. Often time’s menstruation is a taboo subject with little or no conversation around it which is a global problem, but at the same time, hygiene of menstrual cycle is a big concern for the health of girls and women.
Menstrual Health
We work on menstrual health incorporating other episodes of bleeding between menarche and menopause and refer to these as ‘different types of vaginal bleeding. We focus is on women and girls, although we identify that some women and girls don’t menstruate due to health or anatomical reasons. Often time’s menstruation is a taboo subject with little or no conversation around it which is a global problem, but at the same time, hygiene of menstrual cycle is a big concern for the health of girls and women.
To manage Menstruation hygienically, it is essential that women and girls have access to WASH facilities such as access to menstrual products, soap & clean water for hand washing and facilities for safe use & disposal of used materials or a place to dry reusable pads. We carry out sensitization programs on Menstrual Health Management amongst marginalized women and girls both in/out of school, internally displaced peoples camp, in over 13 communities where menstrual hygiene is not maintained and has distributed over 10,000 free disposable and reusable menstrual products.
PDICH approach to our work are; Empowerment, education and information; Using a comprehensive rights-based menstrual health curriculum, PDICH work with peer educators, teachers, health workers & stakeholders to sensitize women and girls with the necessary knowledge and skills to manage their menstrual health, menopause and other forms of vaginal bleeding.
- The access and use of services and products; this ensures women/girls have access to gender sensitive toilets, as we collaborate with them and their communities to realise these facilities. These are achieved through awareness-raising, capacity-building and social accountability methods such as resources mobilization,
- National / international advocacy and policy influencing; Advocacy towards policy or implementation of policies is an essential instrument in creating sustainable change. In addition on national level, PDICH advocates for increased prioritisation of menstrual health on the global level.
- Evidence based programs; there is a need for more rigorous and systematic research on barriers to menstrual health and evaluations of its programmes. We work closely with researchers to ensure our programmes contribute to evidence based menstrual health.
Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR)
A nation is as wealthy and healthy as the health of its youth. The need for young persons to be educated with comprehensive sexuality education to ensure that all aspects of their lives are safe. Nigeria is the second highest country burden with adolescents living with HIV/AIDs (10% of the global figure); it also has the highest number of women & girls who has been cut or mutilated (10% of the global statistics; also a maternal mortality rate of 576/100,000 live birth, is a considerable challenge.
Sexual reproductive health and rights means the right for everyone, regardless of ethnicity, age, sexuality, HIV/AIDS status or any other aspects of identity, to make informed choices regarding their own sexuality & reproduction. This includes rights to make informed choices if or when they want to have children, easy and safe access to affordable & comprehensive family planning services, safe abortion, the right to accurate information of services to prevent and treat sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV and AIDS, and sexual health information and education.
Women and girls in Nigeria and most Sub African countries face increased risks of sexual violence and accessibility for sexual reproductive health education & services to achieve gender equality for women/girls’ sexual human rights, are almost not available. Globally, evidence shows that young girls bear a higher implications of maternal mortality & morbidity. Nigeria being the largest sub-Saharan country in West Africa, sexual reproductive health (SRH) data outcomes emphasizes on the need to focus on women and young people.
“For a country with the vast population below 25 years old, data states an average age at sexual debut is around 15 years especially among adolescent mothers and an estimated 1.25 million abortions in Nigeria annually (DHS 2013).”
The need to protect the sexual reproductive health & right of young people in/out-of-school is or utmost importance. PDICH invests in sustainable and innovative comprehensive sexuality educational programs and community mobilisation for SRHR information services, referral, and support to mitigate vulnerability of mortality or unwanted pregnancy and improve the health & productivity of women/girls.
HIV/AIDS
Young women (15-24 years) in sub-Saharan Africa, account for 75% of HIV infections and are three times more likely to be infected than young men of the same age. Nigeria has the second-largest HIV epidemic in the world and one of the highest rates of new infection in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2018, there were 130,000 new HIV infections and 53000 AIDS-related deaths. Women and girls are disproportionately vulnerable to HIV and deep-rooted gender inequality makes them disproportionately vulnerable to being infected with HIV, and also undermines efforts to prevent AIDS.
According to WHO, critical links between HIV and violence against women and girls shows particularly domestic violence by intimate partners which is both a cause and a consequence of HIV infection such as the inability to negotiate condom use, relationships with older men (child marriage), violence as a consequence of being HIV positive, direct transmission through sexual violence. Most people living with HIV in Nigeria are unaware of their status and access to antiretroviral treatment is still an issue for people living with HIV which leads to a lot of AIDS-related deaths.
PDICH protects women and girls from the impacts of HIV through;
- Supporting local groups to provide vital information, education, prevention, referrals and possible eradication of HIV/AIDS among adolescents and young people.
- Psychosocial support to assist women cope with the stigma of living with HIV, and help change negative attitudes in communities.
- Through skills training and group projects which empowers the women to earn their own income and support their children.
- We work to end violence against women and girls – such as helping to reduce child marriage and the risk of women/girls getting infected.
MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH
Every child has the right to survive & thrive, yet children and adolescents still faced with significant challenges to survive past infancy and developing to their full potential. Some 810 women die every day from pregnancy related causes many of which could be avoided. Lack of access to quality health care and life-saving supplies still contributes significantly to preventable maternal and child deaths. Nigeria is one of the leading contributor to the global burden of women and children’s death having an estimated loss of 58,000 due to pregnancy related causes or childbirth in 2015, this accounts for almost one-fifth of maternal deaths globally.
Nigeria had the fourth highest maternal mortality ratio in the world at roughly 814 deaths per 100,000 live births despite the adoption of maternal health policies and interventions (UNICEF).
We strive to improve the health of mothers, pregnant women, and children under the age of five in Nigeria. We achieve this by disseminating best practices by providing training and technical assistance to community health workers & traditional birth attendants (TBAs) on health challenges that affect pregnant women and children, sensitizing women in rural areas with basic knowledge on maternal health, and also investing in environmental sanitation.
Our goal is to promote healthy children, families, and communities and have distributed over 7,000 birthing kits to TBAs across 10 districts in the course of our programs.
WASH
Poor access to improved water and sanitation in Nigeria remains a substantial contributing factor to high morbidity and mortality rates. 63 million people in Nigeria lacks access to safe clean water with over 46 million still practicing open defecation, making her one of the countries with the highest number of people still engaged in such act.
In northern Nigeria, only 30% of the population has access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. An estimated 88% of this burden is attributable to the risk factors of unsafe drinking water supply, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene which are second in contributing to the global burden of disease. Seventy-three per cent of diarrhoeal and enteric disease burden is associated with poor access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and is disproportionately borne by more impoverished children contributing to ill-health, malnutrition, diseases, school absenteeism in children and death of more than 70,000 children under five annually
The use of poor sanitary conditions and contaminated drinking water result in increased vulnerability to water-borne diseases. Only 26.5 per cent of the population use improved drinking water sources or sanitation facilities. And 23.5 per cent of the population defecate in the open (UNICEF)
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 by 2030 requires extraordinary efforts and an issue for communities with sanitation challenges and needs significant household contribution to eliminate open defecation despite low family incomes.
We aim to;
- Ensure sustainability of water services in rural communities.
- Strengthen capacity to develop and implement equitable and gender-sensitive WASH policies, strategies and guidelines.
- Provide sanitation and hygiene services with access to clean water,
- Strengthen government efforts to eradicate the practice of open defecation. Strengthen tailored approaches such as Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) in riverine, rural, & peri-urban settings.
Mental Health
Mental health prevention is at the heart of what we do which is helping people understand, identify, and address the sources of their problems, protect & sustain their health so that people and communities can thrive as our desire is positive mental health and wellbeing for all.
Our approach to preventing mental health stigma, is to create a non-judgemental environment for persons to feel safe and have open conversations about their mental health issues. We understand the importance of stories in challenging inbred notions about mental health issues thus utilizing community and peer programmes to test and evaluate the best approaches to improving mental health in communities.
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34 Adekunle Lawal, Apo Legislative quarters, Abuja.
+234 913 222 1763