View the latest family planning advocacy news from our partners.
In June 2019, Kenya’s Ministry of Health approved the inclusion of new postpregnancy family planning (PPFP) indicators in the nation’s health information system. It is the first time that these indicators will be tracked systematically across all of the country’s health facilities. This advocacy win shows great potential to improve access to family planning across maternal and reproductive health units within facilities.
Intrauterine device (IUD) acceptance rates rose among postpartum women following a series of improvements to the quality of family planning services provided in four districts in Assam state. Postpartum IUD insertions in 25 facilities increased to 7.8% of all deliveries following the improvement of services (March 2018 to April 2019), compared to just 1.4% of deliveries before them (August 2017 to February 2018)[1].
In an unexpected turn of events, Nigeria’s 2019 Appropriation Bill reduced the national government’s budget for family planning by 90% compared to the 2018 budget. Following months of deliberations and anticipation, the bill was signed by President Buhari on May 27, 2019.
In May 2019, the National Population Commission in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health in Nigeria released their 2018 Demographic Health Survey findings. The findings show marginal progress on key family planning and reproductive health indicators.
In June 2019, 120 medical officers participated in a week-long training on Bangladesh’s newly revised intrauterine device (IUD) curriculum. Representing both public and private facilities across the country, the trainees—mainly medical officers—built skills on needs-based family planning counseling, client screening techniques, IUD insertion and removal, and post-insertion follow-up. The training is the first of 13, which aim to cover relevant health providers in all family welfare clinics in the country by March 2020.
In February 2019, the Ogun State Primary Health Care Development Board launched an Adolescent Reproductive Health Strategic Framework (2018-2022). The framework aims to increase access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services for all adolescents and young people in the state by 2022. It also facilitates stronger coordination of adolescent SRH across relevant state ministries, departments, and agencies.
Four Kenyan counties have, for the first time, established multi-agency government task forces with action plans to address their high teenage pregnancy rates. The action plans commit to leverage resources for, address policy barriers to, and enhance efficiency in providing contraceptive information and services for young people aged 10 to 19. As of June 2019, the action plans are officially approved, and implementation is underway.
Twenty-six public health facilities in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra, India, have seen a 26% increase in the number of clients receiving postpartum intrauterine device (PPIUD) services between April 2018 and March 2019, compared to the same period last year. This increase in uptake follows renewed government efforts to enhance provider training on family planning counseling and PPIUD service delivery across the district. Acceptance rates for PPIUD among clients delivering in facilities also rose 8 percentage points from 25.4% to 33.4%, compared to the prior year.
On September 27, 2018, the Governing Board of the State Innovations in Family Planning Services Project Agency (SIFPSA)[1] approved a proposal to establish youth centers in 40 colleges across Uttar Pradesh. The proposal included a budget of 14.8 million Indian rupees (INR) (US $207,500) and an operational plan for all 18 divisions in the state.
On December 13, 2018, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) signed a revised comprehensive public health bill into law. For the first time, the law creates a new legal environment favorable to family planning and reproductive health, repealing and replacing a colonial law from 1920 prohibiting any form of action against or preventing procreation.
February 13, 2019
A new law in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) now requires mining companies to support socially-responsible programs, and prominent leaders are calling on the companies to invest in family planning. Following a request from the President of the DRC, in December 2018, civil society members met with government leaders and over 20 mining companies to discuss options for including family planning in their social responsibility strategies.