Sexual and reproductive health care services for students

The Department of Nursing at CUT has been operating a long-running MSc programme in Midwifery (one of only two in the country) and the School of Health Sciences is very research active in the field of maternal, sexual and reproductive health. Furthermore, there are solid and long-lasting collaborations with both government bodies and NGOs in the field of sexual and reproductive health both in the context of research projects as well as in the context of piloting programmes in the community and disseminating research findings in both the academic as well as wider community. To give the most characteristics examples by type of activity:

  1. Policy-level: CUT is represented in several National Committees as well as organizations related to sexual and reproductive health and thus influences national policy on these issues e.g. National Committee for the promotion of Breastfeeding, National Committee for the Reduction of Caesarean sections, both of which are issues of high priority in Cyprus which is ranking at the bottom (breastfeeding) and at the top (Caesarean sections) of Europe.
  2. Research activities- RESPECT project: As part of this EU/CERV project, in 2023, there was a nationwide call to participate in a survey of childbirth experience and the quality of maternity care services, followed by series of Participatory Action Research activities with all stakeholders to develop national strategy and take action to promote best practices, tools and quality standards based on the principles and criteria for “Respectful Maternity Care”, set by the WHO and the White Ribbon Alliance Charter of Rights.
  3. Outreach: Baby Buddy webapp platform, managed by the Dept Nursing
    and local NGO Birth Forward, co-created with all local scientific association in maternal-child health and other stakeholders, is free to register and continued through 2023 to have nationwide reach with 1000 new registrations annually across Cyprus (https://my.visme.co/v/z4prg4qy-emkm39v), including the CUT student, administration & academic community, while the YouTube Channel with audiovisual material has global reach, providing day-to-day valid information, practical advice and emotional support during the nine months of pregnancy and first six months of baby’s life.

Further to the above activities (which have nationwide reach addressing the needs of the wider
community), CUT places a lot of importance in promoting the sexual and reproductive health of the student community. A number of activities of free access are planned on an annual basis, specifically directed to the student community with the aim to provide information and education services on sexual and reproductive health (full list here). Some characteristic examples in 2023 include:

  1. SEX Talk: open call to a participatory workshop for sexual health, organised by the CUT Student Development Center and Cy Checkpoint.
  2. Workshop and recorded webinar: “Youth: Healthy Relationships and Companionship“, an annual partnership between the CUT School of Health Sciences, Student Welfare Centre and the Cyprus Family Planning Association to provide a platform for an open discussion around sexual and reproductive health, health and unhealthy relationships and provide information about available support resources and structures.
  3. The Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) became in 2023 the first public organization in Cyprus to have a properly designed and well equipped dedicated breastfeeding room, ahead of the Bill discussed at parliament which would make it a legal requirement for employers to provide support for breastfeeding women in the workplace. This initiative by the University has not only provided practical support to breastfeeding mothers within the University community but also, due to the strategic timing of the launch and the publicity given due to involvement of a well-known street artist who painted a mural on-site depicting a breastfeeding mother-child , it had an impact in raising awareness about breastfeeding as a basic reproductive health right of mother and child and as a responsibility of the employers to support and protect this right (URL:  https://www.cut.ac.cy/news/article/?contentId=509780).