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Mali: How a group of young women encourage youth to get tested for STIs

Today, in the main square of Pélengana, a commune five kilometres east of Ségou in central Mali, members of the Voice of Youth Association are the centre of attention. Surrounded by a group of women and standing in front of a mobile clinic, the members explain the importance of getting tested for sexually transmitted infections, or STIs. 

Twenty-eight-year-old Ada Diam Assouba is the president of the Voice of Youth Association, a group that raises awareness and works to create change on issues such as gender-based violence, reproductive health, and the prevention and treatment of STIs. Mrs. Assouba explains that STIs are infections that can be transmitted through unprotected sex, but also through blood or breast milk. 

In Mali, as elsewhere, STIs pose a serious health threat, but are rarely discussed. Due to the sensitive nature of STIs, many people are reluctant to get tested or go to health centres for fear of being shunned. 

To combat this stigma and increase testing rates, the Voice of Youth Association works with the Malian Association for the Protection and Promotion of the Family, a local non-government organization. Together, the two organizations raise awareness about the benefits of STI testing and why it’s important to seek treatment at health centres. 

Assetou Haïdara is the coordinator of the Segou branch of the Malian Association for the Protection and Promotion of the Family. She says there are several types of STIs. The most common include syphilis, herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and HIV. She explains that the symptoms of these STIs include genital warts, itching, unusual vaginal discharge, and pain during sex. She adds that STIs can have a direct impact on women and men’s health by leading to issues such as infertility, complications in pregnancy, and HIV.

Mrs. Haïdara recommends regular testing to detect and treat STIs quickly and to protect against infection. But, she says, this dream is not yet a reality. She explains, “In Mali, talking about STIs is a taboo subject. People with STIs are stigmatized and isolated by those around them. This is why many people refuse to be tested.”

Mrs. Haïdara says that regular STI testing is important for everyone. It allows people to know their HIV status, the current state of their health, and to be treated for STIs. 

For women, other STIs may require a gynaecological exam, which assesses the health of the external and internal reproductive organs. Mrs. Haïdara explains, “With the help of a tool called a speculum, we examine the woman’s uterus. This step doesn’t hurt at all and, if there are any diseases, we give the women medication.”

The Voice of Youth Association and Malian Association for the Protection and Promotion of the Family are encouraging more people to be regularly tested for STIs. The organizations run a mobile clinic that travels through the neighbourhoods of Segou to conduct testing on the spot. 

Mrs. Assouba explains that her group established a group of young women to learn about STIs together, and encourage one another to get tested.

She continues: “Then we set up small groups in the neighbourhoods of Segou. These groups are led by these same adolescent girls and each works to get other young people, women and men, tested as well.” 

Mrs. Haïdara says the strategy is proving successful. She explains, “Before, we limited ourselves to radio awareness programmes, caravans, and festivals, but there was no mobilization.” But having young women as leaders and a mobile clinic that can reach faraway groups is increasing the number of people who are getting tested, especially young men and women. 

Mrs. Assouba and the Voice of Youth Association support the strategy as well. Mrs. Assouba says: “With the involvement of women in this peer education system, [the strategy] is proving effective. We will undoubtedly lift the taboo around STI testing and enable young people to know their HIV status.”

This resource was produced through the “HÉRÈ – Women’s Well-Being in Mali” initiative, which aims to improve the sexual and reproductive health well-being of women and girls and to strengthen the prevention of and response to gender-based violence in Sikasso, Ségou, Mopti, and the district of Bamako in Mali. The project is implemented by the HÉRÈ – MSI Mali Consortium, in partnership with Farm Radio International (RRI) and Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) with funding from Global Affairs Canada.

Photo: The Voice of Youth Association and Malian Association for the Protection and Promotion of the Family mobile clinic.