Another RHIVA innovation: Youth Friendly Health Centres on the move

Eyethu Impilo (Our Lives) is the apt name proposed by learners for the Youth Friendly Health Centres (YFCH) that have been set up to service all RHIVA schools. These mobile clinics were introduced because learners felt there was no confidentiality in their local clinics and were therefore not keen to get help there.

The services offered in the mobile health centre are:

• Sexual and reproductive health information: contraception, sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV related issues.
• Career guidance, with access to the internet
• Displays of books relevant to adolescents, including teen novels such as the popular titles Sugar Daddy and Broken Promises.

How the YFHC works

• Each RHIVA school is visited twice a month for two successive days where possible.
• Afternoon information sessions are conducted by primary health care professionals – nurses and peer counselors. The sessions focus on contraception, STIs, counseling, HIV-related matters and general health care issues.
• Learners can get HIV tests and treatment for STIs,together with counseling, at the YFCH.
• The YFCH staff is drawn from MIET AFRICA and CAPRISA, who also encourage the schools to use this opportunity for learners to take tests and know their status

The YFHC is getting positive support from the learners in all the schools.