Community Health Assistants (CHAs) and Community Health Promoters (CHPs) in Kiambu have been trained on Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate (DMPA-SC), a self-injectable contraceptive that simplifies and enhances the accessibility of family planning, in a bid to make family planning more accessible to women.
DMPA-SC, which is being distributed by the Ministry of Health, is a user-friendly injectable contraceptive that can be administered by trained individuals, including community health workers and women themselves.
The implementation of DMPA-SC into the Kenyan health system was first launched in 2020 as part of a broader reproductive health self-care initiative by the government aimed at improving access to family planning in line with global trends towards self-care interventions.
“The department, in partnership with Kmet Kenya, held a sensitization event for Community Health Assistants and CHPs on the use of various family planning methods, emphasising the importance and usage of DMPA SC, a self-administered injectable contraceptive that can be administered at any hospital offering family planning and at home,” said the County Director of Health, Dr. Hillary Kagwa.
He added that training the CHP on how to use the new form of family planning will help make injectable contraception available in remote locations, closer to where women live.
“DMPA-SC is a uniquely designed small plastic bubble prefilled with a single dose of medication and attached to a short needle which is easy to use and that any trained person can administer, including community health promoters, pharmacists, and even women themselves through self-injection,” stated Dr. Kagwe.
According to the Director of Health, CHPs who have undergone training will be mandated to also train women on how to use the DMPA-SC by giving themselves a simple injection every three months to prevent pregnancy.
“By embracing such innovative new health technology, this will help put women in charge of their reproductive health, putting the power of protection directly in women’s hands, hence reducing access-related barriers for women, increasing contraceptive continuation rates, and enhancing women’s autonomy,” added the Kiambu director of health.
According to the Ministry of Health, Kenya has made significant progress in promoting access to family planning, with the modern contraceptive prevalence rate rising to 57% in 2022, up from 53% in 2014. During the same period, the unmet need for family planning was reduced from 18% to 14%. Despite this progress, barriers such as the high financial cost of access and uncertainty over supply hinder efforts to meet the demand for family planning.
By Grace Naishoo
