Lower health centres in Kabale now provide long term family planning services

Kabale, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT |  Kabale district has finally started providing free long term family planning services at Health Centre III and IV. The facilities were initially providing short term methods like condoms and contraceptives to people in need, while those who needed long term services were referred to Kabale Regional Hospital or seek private services.

Kabale District Health Officer Alfred Besigensi, says that Health centre III and IVs’ were unable to provide the services because they were not considered on the list of entities that received supplies from the National Medical Stores. This has now changed. 

Besigensi says that the district was only depending on private partners like Maries topes International and Reproductive Health Uganda that would conduct some outreaches at some health centres. He adds that the approach was not reliable because the outreaches were not regular. 

Besigensi says that they have already sensitized all the staff at health centre III and IV to popularize the availability of the services to that locals start benefiting.

Andrew Mubangizi,  the in-charge of Maziba Health Centre IV in Ndorwa East county says that the intervention will save mothers from the long distances they trek to hospitals seeking for long term services. He says that every month, the facility would register 30 people especially mothers seeking long term family planning services.

Mubangizi says that the intervention is a result of repeated petitions to the district health department and Ministry of Health by Kabale Women in Development, a non-profit Community-based organization in conjunction with the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF). The entities conducted a survey and found mothers’ suffering without the services.

Records from Kabale district health department indicates that 2,706 people received long term family planning methods across private and public health facilities in the district between January- June this year. 

Among them, seven conducted vasectomy, 15 tubal ligations, 265 received copper-bearing intrauterine devices, 820 received five-year implants, 14 received the four-year implant and 1,585 received 3-year implants services.

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