Why most Rwandans don’t use family planning methods

Whereas there’s been an increase in the number of women using contraceptive methods, there is still a 19 per cent unmet need for family planning services for married women basing on the 2010 DHS.Total unmet need for family planning is higher in rural areas (20 per cent) than in urban areas (16 per cent).52 per cent of women in Rwanda use contraceptives;45 per cent using modern contraceptives while the 6 per cent use traditional methods ,as reflected in the latest DHS report. There is still that per centage that doesn’t access family planning services. Though it might not be a big number compared to those who access them, it still poses a challenge.Despite the remarkable results in contraceptive use and providing family planning services to Rwandans, there are still a number of challenges that are limiting access to these services.The UNFPA Resident Representative, Victoria Akyeampong, said that this is due to some of the existing challenges such as myths, rumours and misperceptions about Family Planning methods and their side effects which persist despite efforts to address them.“There’s still insufficient information and counselling on family planning. There are also gaps in sexual and reproductive health education in schools; yet this presents a great potential since children can learn about such issues at an early age,” she explained.She also pointed out lack of decision-making power of women about the use of Family Planning and insufficient support and involvement of their male partners is another barrier.Another challenge she highlighted is that of insufficient human resource for health, especially Midwives, gynaecologists and neonatologists.Yvonne Uwanyilingira, the BCC Training Officer of Fertility Awareness-based Methods (FAM) Project, said that some women still have negative mindsets towards modern contraceptives for fear of side effects while some others especially rural women, are still embracing socio-cultural and religious perceptions which affect Family planning service demand by the population.She said that there was need to provide family planning choices for women and also teach them about the natural methods of contraception which don’t require one to take any pills such as the use of cycle beads among others.Uwanyilingira emphasized the need for further sensitization on the different contraception methods to change the wrong perceptions that some people still have towards contraceptives and also teach the ignorant ones.However, Pastor Banard Buchana, of Christian Life Assemblies (CLA), Nyarutarama observed that religious leaders are not against Family Planning but instead they are against abortion.“We are only against killing which is through abortion. Family planning is birth control and doesn’t stop the progress of a pregnancy. The religious leaders who are against family planning speak for themselves and not on behalf of all clerics,” he said.Pastor Buchana, however, added that the Bible is quite silent on this subject although the church isn’t against it unless it involves terminating a progressing pregnancy.Lambert Ingabire, a pharmacist with King Faisal Hospital said that the challenge is mostly with unmarried girls and women who are faced with societal stigma therefore making it hard for them to access contraceptives and family planning methods.“Some of these women are shy, afraid and go as far as sending kids to help them buy the contraceptives yet in most cases we need the user so we can advise them on how to use these contraceptives,”he said.Some women, according to the pharmacist, fear using some types of contraception like the pills because they think that these pills will make them fat and barren, they end up avoiding family planning altogether. Ingabire, however, added that despite that per centage of those not accessing family planning, the majority of the Rwandan women are now aware of these services and making use of them although he cited need for more campaigns to educate the few who aren’t using them.Akyeapong, the UNFPA Resident Representative, said that the unmet needs for modern family planning and maternal and newborn health care will reduce maternal deaths by more than two thirds.“If all women wanting to avoid pregnancy used modern family planning, unintended pregnancies would decline sharply, by 71 per cent,” she added.

National

Why most Rwandans don’t use family planning methods