Background
Peer pressure, puberty, teenage pregnancies and lack of knowledge about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections are challenges that young people face in many parts of the worlds. In Lusaka, Zambia, there is a need for youth-friendly reproductive health care to address these issues and empower adolescents with the knowledge and services needed to stay healthy and make informed decisions. The Evelyn Hone College, in Lusaka, has a student population of 5000. Despite this, the college clinic only provided general health services and not youth-friendly reproductive care.

About the project
This project was created to increase awareness on SRHR among young people at Evelyn Hone College and provide them with youth-friendly reproductive health services. The project was a collaboration between the college and Planned Parenthood Association Zambia (PPAZ). The project team trained twenty students and six lecturers to be peer educators and also trained the staff at EHC and PPAZ on how to provide youth-friendly services for adolescents. Youth-friendly reproductive health services were then established at the college clinic, where the students could access information on SRHR, contraceptives, HIV counselling and testing, screening and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy tests and more.

Results
By the end of this project, there was a great increase in the number of students visiting the clinic. 4661 students accessed the clinic’s youth-friendly reproductive health services between January and March 2009, which was a 77% increase in attendance compared to the year before. A youth-friendly reproductive health club was also established at the college, where members arranged group discussions, peer counselling sessions and referrals for reproductive health services.

Year: 2008/2009