Promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights in Nigeria through change in medical school curriculum.

Significant developments have occurred in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) globally in the last decade. However, this is yet to translate into improved status of SRHR in developing countries. One of the strategies recognised worldwide for addressing the poor status of SRHR is human capacity building at all levels. A pilot work conducted in two federal university medical schools identified a major gap in knowledge among medical students on issues related to SRHR. This called for a review of the curriculum to enable the incorporation of relevant and topical issues. This article describes the processes leading to the adoption of the Nigerian medical schools' sexual and reproductive health and rights curriculum. The exercise culminated in the identification of internal and external stakeholders and needs of the Nigerian medical schools in teaching reproductive health. The participation of lecturers (bottom-up approach) brought about a sense of ownership of the document and promoted the broad consultation and participation of all participants. It also identified capacity building and the need for evaluation as a basis for further review.