By Isaiah Eka
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), has called for programmes and policies that will grant adolescent girls and young women in Akwa Ibom access to improved healthcare.
The Country Programmes Director, Dr Echey Ijezie, made the call on Friday during the commemoration of the 2025 International Day of the Girl Child in Uyo.
At the event with the theme: “The Girl I am, the Change I Lead: Girls on the Frontline of Crisis” Ijezie said that the future of the girl child should be protected through well-articulated policies.
He said that there was need for increased investment in sexuality education, and the prevention, testing and treatment of HIV/AIDS.
The AHF official said that no fewer than 4,000 young women of between age 15 and 24 got infected with HIV weekly, and that about 3,300 of such cases were in sub-Saharan Africa.
Ijezie further said that the event was aimed at honouring the achievements of girl children and reinforcing the need to expand opportunities for them to thrive and stay healthy.
He expressed displeasure that young girls still faced challenges of poor menstrual health and limited access to reproductive health services.
Delivering the keynote address, Mrs Inibehe Etukudo, the Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, said that the state government was committed to protecting the rights of the girl child.
Etukudo said that the state government had created opportunities for the voices and ideas of female children to be heard, and for their potentials to be unleashed.
She said that the state government was working towards securing funding to implement programmes that would empower girls through scholarships and health initiatives.
“Education remains the cornerstone of this vision. Every girl in Akwa Ibom deserves access to quality education, free from obstacles such as poverty or early marriage.
“We must also prioritise their health, ensuring access to menstrual hygiene resources and mental health support, so that they can flourish,” she said.
Dr Ekemini Essien, the AHF Coordinator in Akwa Ibom, urged governments at all levels to urgently evolve policies that would empower the girl child and protect their rights.
The sanitary pads were distributed to girls at the event to promote menstrual hygiene.
