Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
As part of efforts to increase awareness on the use of contraceptives to prevent unplanned pregnancies, the Abia State Primary Health Care Development Agency has organised a one-day workshop for Family Planning Supervisors and the new Monitoring and Evaluation Officers for the 17 Local Government Areas in the state.
The training according to the Assistant Chief Programme Officer, Society for Family Health, and Project Lead for Delivering Innovation in Self Care (DISC) Project, Dr Anthony Nwala, is geared towards increasing awareness on the various self-care interventions, self-inject family planning method, and improved facility data reporting.
He also said that the workshop was to serve as a platform to exchange learnings, experiences, and best practices on self-care contraceptives, build capacity on self-injection empathy-based counselling, and tighten oversight on service provision.
“We are promoting self-care. We are now demonstrating self-care with a contraceptive method that can be injected by a client in the comfort, and privacy of their homes after they have been trained,” he said.
He equally stressed the need for documentation, timely and accurate reporting at all levels for adequate planning and mobilization of resources for the health needs of Abians by the State Government and its partners.
In a remark, the State Family Planning Coordinator, Adanna Kelechi, said their target was to put in place a sustainability plan for the DISC project implemented by Society for Family Health in Abia State.
She said the programme was launched in 2022 and would roll through 2024 with the aim of empowering women to take charge of their sexual and reproductive health.
“It supports women’s knowledge and demand for self care. Self-care means that they can administer themselves Family Planning method anywhere including at the comfort of their homes.
“It will also help them access Family Planning services wherever they want, and it is very effective. We have trained supervisors who will cascade them in their local government areas to health providers.”
Speaking at the workshop, the Social and Behavioural Change Officer, Dr Veronica Eze, explained that the Delivering Innovation in Self Care (DISC) Project, was an intervention project being implemented by Society for Family Health (SFH), and Population Services International, with funding support from the Children Investment Fund Foundation in partnership with Abia State Primary Health Care Development Agency to scale-up of quality self-care options in Sexual Reproductive Health, starting with DMPA-SC self-injection.
The project, according to her, creates demand and awareness about the different contraceptive methods including DMPA-SC self-injection also known as Sayana Press.
She noted that some unplanned pregnancies would have been prevented during the COVID-19 lockdown but for lack of access to quality health care services.
“During the covid-19, self-care contraceptives would have helped individuals and families to prevent many of the unplanned pregnancies recorded during COVID-19, as many women avoided the health facility when their method expired because they were afraid of contracting the virus at the health facility.”
She advised couples to embrace family planning to control birth and avoid unwanted pregnancies.
“Family planning method helps an individual or a couple to plan their family, on when to get pregnant, the number of many children to have, the intervals they want to have children”
