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On October 9, 2018, during the national family planning validation meeting, Kenya’s Ministry of Health amended its family planning guidelines to allow pharmacists and pharmaceutical technologists throughout the country to provide subcutaneous and intramuscular depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA-SC and DMPA-IM). This policy change opens up an alternative for women and adolescents who may be reluctant to seek contraception at health facilities.
On September 6, 2018, the National Technical Committee of Bangladesh approved a pilot project to introduce subcutaneous DMPA (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate)—often marketed as Sayana® Press—for self-injection. The pilot will assess the contraceptive method’s acceptability and feasibility within the National Family Planning Program.
On July 18, 2018, in a State of the Nation address, President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) made a strong statement in support of family planning.
In June, the Government of India earmarked $409,470 to expand its “Ensuring Spacing at Birth” scheme across all 34 districts in Maharashtra. Advocates initially sought to extend the effort into one district, but incited a larger advocacy movement for state-wide expansion. Consequently, the scheme allocation for Maharashtra state is a sevenfold increase (646%) from the previous year’s budget of $54,899.
Barpeta, Darrang, Dhubri, and Morigaon districts in the state of Assam, India are beginning to see results after establishing a comprehensive mechanism to provide family planning counselling and services for eligible couples in public health facilities.
In June, Kapchorwa district council in Uganda approved a framework developed entirely by local community stakeholders to monitor and track family planning supplies to the last mile. The first of its kind, the plan does not require funding and involves all stakeholders in the commodity supply chain to ensure that each one safeguards access to family planning and reproductive health commodities.
The Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh, India strengthened 11 facilities to provide quality female sterilization services between May and October 2017, eight of which began providing the services for the first time. Fixed day services (FDS) ensure that quality female sterilization services are available on a designated day every week, all year long rather, than only during particular months of the year.
Twenty-five health sub-centers in the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh, India that initiated fixed day services (FDS) for intra-uterine device (IUD) services are beginning to see results. Uptake of IUDs increased 30-fold, from 20 insertions between July 2016 and June 2017 to 685 insertions between July 2017 and June 2018.
In December 2017, the Nasarawa State Commissioner of Health released five million Nigerian naira (US $14,000) from the 2017 state budget for implementation of family planning activities [1]. By February 2018, all of the funds were spent as planned—to train community health extension workers (CHEWs), procure family planning-related supplies (e.g.
For the first time ever, Nigeria’s Plateau State government approved a dedicated budget allocation of 23 million naira (US $64,200) for family planning in the state’s 2018 budget. The budget was passed into law in February 2018. [1]
The governments of Ambon, Kapuas Hulu, Karawang, Kuningan, and Tual districts committed to sustain their advocacy activities when the Advance Family Planning (AFP) initiative completes its mentoring and assistance in October 2018.