Executive Director of the Jamaica Family Planning Association (JFPA), Dr. Pauline Russell Brown, has called for greater attention to the gaps that still exist in adolescent sexual and reproductive health services in Jamaica. Dr. Rusell Brown was addressing the 13th IAAH World Congress on Adolescent Health in Jamaica from May 13-15, 2026.
The Congress brought together adolescent health practitioners, researchers, policymakers, NGOs, youth health advocates and young people from across the world to examine new evidence, promising interventions and urgent challenges affecting adolescent and young adult health. The Congress was held under the theme “Beyond Awareness… Resilience, Reimagining, Responding.”
During an oral presentation, titled “Identifying gaps in adolescent sexual and reproductive health services in 2 health regions in Jamaica,” Dr. Russell Brown focused on work being done under the Strengthening Access, Inclusion and Leadership for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SAIL-SRHR) project to better understand where adolescents are still being underserved.
Reflecting on her presentation, Dr. Russell Brown said she outlined the project’s objectives, implementing partners and funding agencies, while focusing particularly on adolescent health services. “Basically we’re looking at where are the gaps in service delivery to adolescents,” she explained.
She noted that the work was grounded in formative research, including health centre audits, participatory research with both service providers and adolescents, and exit interviews with adolescent clients. This process helped the project team to identify practical barriers affecting the quality, accessibility and responsiveness of services. Once those gaps were identified, training was organised to respond to the findings.
According to Dr. Russell Brown, the training placed emphasis on areas such as communication and the meaningful involvement of adolescents. She also acknowledged that while policy and legislation emerged as an important area, which was not something the training could directly address beyond raising awareness of the issue.
For Dr. Russell Brown, sharing Jamaica’s experience at the Congress was important because of the audience gathered in the room. “People need to know what’s going on,” she said. “We in Jamaica have made very positive strides in terms of adolescent health, but we have some way to go. And I think people can learn from what we do.”
Dr. Russell Brown’s presentation reinforced the importance of listening directly to adolescents and ensuring that their voices help shape the services intended for them. It also highlighted the need to support healthcare providers, not only financially, but through the tools, systems and enabling environment required to deliver youth-friendly care.
Asked what she hoped participants would take away from her presentation, Dr. Russell Brown was clear: “That we can make a change.” She added, “If adolescents and providers can talk to each other and listen to each other… if policymakers take account of what adolescents are saying and support providers in doing what they need to do… I think we will make it.”
Her message aligned strongly with the Congress’ focus on moving beyond awareness toward meaningful action. The presentation underscored a central principle of adolescent health programming: young people must not only be reached by services, but actively involved in shaping them.
The Strengthening Access, Inclusion and Leadership for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SAIL-SRHR) project is funded by Global Affairs Canada in partnership with Alinea international and is being implemented by CVC and JFPA.
