BY MENGISTEAB TESHOME
Emebet Fisha, a resident of Addis Ababa, is a mother of three – a son and two daughters. She is also one of the women who are trying to decide the number of children they wish to have thereby enhancing the health and wellbeing of their families through the use of family planning services.
According to her, diversified family planning services are provided in all public and private health facilities for free. And utilizing contraceptives have helped her to avoid unplanned pregnancy and limit the number of their children. “I have been using contraceptives to widen inter pregnancy intervals and to decide the time that we are ready to have another baby” she said.
Zewdinesh Assefa, residence of Shewa Robit Town, in the North Shewa Zone of the Amhara State, is the other woman who gave her view about family planning. She said that they are getting the services for free. However, in some routes, where the communities are not connected the services are not provided accordingly. Further, there is still some kind of misinformation among the community towards the family planning services, she underlined.
The Ethiopian Herald approached Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Services Lead Executive Officer with the Ministry of Health Solomon Gebeyehu (MD) said that the government, joining hands with development partners and private sectors, is exerting utmost effort to access family planning services to all.
The Ministry also holds family planning as a basic human right that benefits everyone.
As to him, the Ministry is working round the clock to increase access to reproductive health services, address misconceptions and harmful cultural and social practices; tackle low literacy levels that are barriers to accept family planning services; and to strengthen the health care system. Despite the efforts, there are still misunderstandings among the communities towards family planning services.
However, Ethiopia is performing well and keeps on making progress in improving reproductive health outcomes and promoting the well-being of its population, he said referring to reports.
Ministry of Health provides long-acting reversible contraception and the implant or Intrauterine Device (IUD) hormonal contraception in the form of pill or the Depo Provera injection in addition to other contraceptive methods that are condoms and emergency contraception.
According to him, to address misconceptions and harmful traditional practices that can deter people from
accessing family planning services, the Ministry is working through public awareness campaigns that promote the benefits of family planning, as well as is crafting various types of messages to be transmitted to targeted communities through media outlets.
According to the 2019 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey, the modern contraceptive prevalence rate among married women of reproductive age (15-49 years) increased from 27 percent in 2011 to 36 percent in 2019. This increase is attributed to a combination of factors, including increased access to family planning services, improved education and awareness about family planning, and the expansion of community-based health programs.
Unluckily, despite the progress, there are still significant gaps in accessing family planning services, particularly in rural areas. According to the same survey, the modern contraceptive prevalence rate among married women of reproductive age in rural areas is only 32 percent compared to 51 percent in urban areas. This disparity is partly due to limited access to health care facilities, as well as a lack of knowledge and awareness about family planning.
To address these gaps and to strengthen family planning services, the Ethiopian government has been implementing a number of initiatives. These include the Health Extension Program, which was launched in 2003 and has been instrumental in expanding access to health care services in rural parts of the country.
Through the program, over 38,000 health extension workers, who provide basic health care services in communities across the country were trained, including family planning services.
In addition, the government has also been implementing a number of policies and strategies aimed at improving access to family planning services and promoting the use of modern contraceptives.
These policies include the National Reproductive Health Strategy and Implementation Plan 2016-2020, which aimed at increasing the modern contraceptive prevalence rate to 55 percent by 2020, and the National Family Planning Implementation Plan 2015-2020, which outlined a comprehensive strategy for scaling up family planning services and improving access to modern contraceptives.
Despite these positive developments, there are still challenges to access the services at the desired level across the country. The reasons for this limitation according to him include lack of funding for family planning programs, limited availability of contraceptives in rural areas, and cultural and social norms that discourage the use of family planning services.
While talking about the challenges observed in the services, he said shortage of drugs and capacity gap in surgical services, as well as turnover of health professionals, are significant challenges facing the Ministry, he underlined.
However, the Ministry, understanding the unfavorable outcome that these challenges can have on the quality of healthcare services provided to the population, is engaged in taking several measures, such as improving the procurement and distribution system of drugs, increasing the budget allocation for drugs, and promoting the local production of essential medicines.
likewise, providing extensive training for junior professionals and holding experience sharing venues as well as increasing the number of trained surgeons and other healthcare professionals, are some of the activities that the Ministry is undertaking aggressively.
Improving infrastructure and equipment in surgical facilities, and promoting the use of innovative surgical techniques are also the other interventions that are exercised to minimize the challenge.
The approach to address the turnover is also creating opportunities for career development, and promoting a positive work culture among healthcare professionals, he remarked.
He also called on development partners and private sector actors to enhance efforts to strengthen the service of family planning more than ever before.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 24 JUNE 2023
