Leadership Commitment and the Quality of Adolescent-Friendly Sexual Reproductive Health Services in Public Health Facilities Among Pastoral Districts of Guji Zone, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Accessible and high-quality sexual and reproductive health services are essential for adolescents. However, there is a need for more knowledge about the role of leadership and the quality of these services in Ethiopia, where a significant proportion of the population consists of adolescents. Inadequate quality of friendly health services may lead to underutilization and higher rates of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. This study aimed to evaluate the leadership role and quality of friendly health services in the pastoral community of East Guji Zone, Ethiopia.

METHODS: We implemented in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with eight key informants and fifty participants. Study design: We used a programmatic qualitative research design. Data were collected using 22 semi-structured questions and analyzed using ATLAS.ti7.

RESULTS: The findings indicate significantly less commitment to health sector leadership and substandard quality of adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services. Inadequate achievement of the quality of care frameworks, including accessibility, equitability, availability, acceptability, and appropriateness, contributed to the insufficient quality of friendly health services.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Poor commitment of health facility leaders influenced the quality of adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services in the pastoral community of the East Guji Zone, according to the study. We recommend enhancing organizational and provider readiness, ensuring equitability, and redesigning services through improving leadership commitment, which is crucial to improving the quality of adolescent-friendly health services. The Ministry of Health Ethiopia and relevant stakeholders should consider these recommendations to improve the quality of friendly health services for adolescents in Ethiopia.