Editor, Recently I read a new report by the Guttmacher Institute and UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund) that was encouraging. The report stated that through investments in family planning, a boost was registered that showed the overall effectiveness of every income spent on the provision of pregnancy related and newborn health care. This good news comes at a time when, Rwandan women have stepped up to the challenge of speaking out on issues that affect them. Talking about reproductive health was previously unheard of, and indeed women suffered because of their silence. Today the situation is different, more women are speaking out and their problems are being solved. Investing in a handful of basic health services, like family planning and routine delivery care, can save millions of women and babies. This is not rocket science. These are mostly simple services that can be provided inexpensively at the local level at the health centers, and be supplemented by provision of urgent care when needed at the bigger referral hospitals. I appreciate what Rwanda’s government is doing to help women in the various spheres of society. At the end of the day, it is a win-win situation. We all know what must be done, we know what it will cost, and we now know that the needed investment is modest in relation to the vast benefits that will follow in the long run. We should continue to sensitize more women and men to invest in family planning because the benefits are enormous. Maria KamikaziKimironko
