Preparations for the National World Contraception Day celebrations, to be held at Ole Ntimama Stadium today have been completed, Hambulle Mohamed, from the division of Reproductive and Maternal health in the Ministry of Health has said.
Mohamed said the celebrations targets to sensitize the members of the public on the importance of using Family Planning (FP) methods as a way of proper child spacing and having the desired number of children in a family.
According to the 2022 Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS), he said, the country’s FP intake was at 57 per cent. The department targets to increase the uptake to 64 percent by 2030.
He said the day will help to enhance awareness of availability of contraceptives across the country and highlight innovations and technology in FP including introduction of self-administered contraceptives.
“The contraceptives do not cause infertility as some people believe. What causes infertility is your behavior after taking the FP. If you expose yourself to infections, this could lead to infertility,” he said.
Also, the day will help to reflect on the progress made, highlight the challenges and promote strategies to improve access to contraceptive services across the country as the stakeholders seek increased funding in the program.
He reiterated that the day’s theme is: ‘Contraception Choices: The power is in my hands’, which is in line with the national FP program of ensuring countrywide access to a wide range of quality, affordable and accessible FP commodities.
Mohamed said the event will be held in Narok county to celebrate the county after they dropped from 40 percent teenage pregnancy in 2014 to 28 percent in 2022.
“We want to learn from the stakeholders in this county the formula they used to lower teenage pregnancy as the county was leading countrywide,” he underscored.
Narok county In-charge of reproduction health Ms. Estelline Nene said FP intake has increased from 14 per cent to 38 per cent in the area.
She underscored that teenagers are put in the program after a series of counselling and getting consent from their parents or guardians.
“We have been training our community Health Promoters (CHPs) and health workers on how to sensitize the community and offer long term methods,” she said.
We have teenagers who are on FP. They are married and we have their concept from their guardians or parents.
Teresia Muthogia from Population Services Kenya said her organization has partnered with the Ministry of Health to increase awareness to the community especially the youths and adolescents.
Samuel Oyugi from Lwala Community Alliance called on men to volunteer to take FP, wondering why it is only women in most cases who volunteer to take the contraceptive.
“As we celebrate this day, let us see how we can bring more men to take contraceptives. For a long time. FP has been seen as a women affair. Most men still fear going for the FP,” he concluded.
They spoke during a media briefing in a Narok hotel on Wednesday.
By Ann Salaton
