Project seeks to meet 2020 contraceptives goal
A project called Responding to the Need for Family Planning through Expanded Contraceptive Choices and Programme Services (Respond) has set its target to meet Malawi’s 60 percent target of contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) by 2020.
Respond project manager Siti Kachingwe said this in Lilongwe on Monday at a Family Planning (FP) orientation for the district’s health personnel that Respond is honouring the post-London FP summit commitments where Malawi delegates agreed to set the CPR target.
During her presentation on FP, Kachingwe emphasised the need for an enabling environment for all who desire FP methods and the efforts of Respond and partners in advocating for other supportive policies on FP.
She said: “If Malawi meets the goal, more than 1.6 million unintended pregnancies will be averted by 2020. More than 84 000 maternal deaths will also be avoided.”
Lilongwe district health officer Mwawi Mwale, who opened the orientation meeting, supported the idea of using long-acting methods, including implants which takes three to five years.
“There is indeed the need to develop the use of such methods as jadelle which are also reversible. Our goal should be to get beyond the 60 percent target by 2020,” he said.
Mwale urged the participants to take part in encouraging the use of FP methods and ensure the availability of the methods at their health facilities.
With support from the United States Agency for International Development (Usaid), Respond project, in partnership with Engender Health, expands family planning services and improves reproductive health in developing countries including Malawi.
