TRAIN NURSES FOR RH SERVICES, GROUP PUSHES RH APPROVAL

A national nursing organization gathers to talk about the current state of maternal health and the lack of reproductive & sexual health & unifies to support the national campaign to pass a comprehensive reproductive health law in the country.

The Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders & Advocates International Inc. (AYNLA), a national nursing organization who is very supportive to the most-debated legislative measure, the RH Bill, shall gather its leaders from NCR and the regions to know more about the current state of maternal health and the importance of reproductive & sexual health to all people this coming October 8-9, 2011 at Great Eastern Hotel, Quezon City.

AYNLA will release their National Manifesto of Support to Reproductive Health which will be signed by their national, regional and some local officers and shall be accepted by some RH champion legislators & heads of Civil Society Organizations in October 9th. Different medical & advocacy experts such as former DOH Secretary Dr. Esperanza Cabral, former Akbayan representative Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel are invited to speak & discuss about maternal & child health, reproductive & sexual health, comprehensive sexuality education, and the role of nurses in achieving the Millennium Development Goals focusing on reducing child mortality and improving maternal health.

“We have to train more nurses who are now currently unemployed to provide better RH services, education & patient counseling. I believe that with the bountiful number of nurses, we can mobilize more health educators & service providers to address many RH issues. That is why we are pushing for the RH Bill, because it will enhance the number of health providers & facilities in poor communities which do not have these services” said Alvin Dakis, President & CEO of AYNLA and is a sexual health nurse himself.

AYNLA is the only nursing organization who is very supportive of the bill and actively joins the passage of it. AYNLA believes that nurses can venture into reproductive & sexual health practice and venture to organizing RH centers or clinics. Nurses when trained can become excellent providers of family planning, reproductive & sexual health services. Nurses are also excellent health educators who can teach appropriately across age groups, in schools, companies & communities.

Dakis urges legislators to think of their poor constituents who cannot access to life-saving services, those who cannot access correct & full information & education on their reproductive & sexual health, and those young people who were refused to be informed about their sexuality, leaving them wandering for correct answers. “All of these can be provided by our nurses, train them & approve the bill” he said. Alvin Dakis, AYNLA