Free Family Planning Services Liven’s up West Nile Region of Uganda

With long queues at clinics in five districts of West Nile in Uganda, under strict Covid-19 restrictions, people are accessing free Family Planning services.

One of the most affected districts in West Nile that is benefiting is Madi – Okollo, dwarfed with teenage pregnancies and early marriages, the demand for Family Planning services was already high.

Demeter Namuyobo, a Medical Coordinator at Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) says the Family Planning and Reproductive health services are currently offered free of charge are much need during the COVID 19 pandemic in order to have planned births, spacing of children and protecting people from catching diseases.

“the services and commodities are freely provided by United Nations Fund for Population Activity (UNFPA), to refugees, vulnerable and underserved including their host communities” Namuyobo says.

Phillip Atidra, in charge of Arua RHU clinic says the Family Planning services are preferred by many immigrant women in refugee settlement clinics because of the pressure they have faced due to giving birth to many unplanned for children.

“the women pitch camp at Siripi and Ocea health centre III’s in Rhino Camp to access free cervical cancer screening, counselling about sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) which are common in Madi – Okollo and Arua district” Atidra says.

Justine Abako, Madi – Okollo Assistant District Health Officer in charge of maternal and child health confirms that in the last two days at least 317 persons were counselled for sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), screened for cervical cancer and enrolled on family planning methods of their choice.

Beneficiaries of SGBV counselling, both men and women say they also have demand from vulnerable people in the host communities with whom they live.

The pills are supplied free by RHU clinics through the district’s Departments of Health. But people who source the family planning services get them in settlements like camps and their host communities.

“The long queues at clinics due to social distancing are proving to be a blessing in disguise. Women who used to queue at local clinics to buy family planning commodities are now accessing them free of charge,” Abako says.

Alice Akello, Madi – Okollo district Resident District Commissioner (RDC) says in upper Madi, 121 teenage pregnancies were registered and 102 early marriages. This comes especially during the toughest lockdown periods, in the last 42 days in 2021.

She says this has thrusted access to family planning services by mostly women and some men in the district.

“Some women say they would rather sacrifice time for home chores to make sure they have access for contraceptive pills,” she said.

The services like counselling, contraceptives, injections, condoms and long-term methods like vasectomy, tubal litigation and implants are widely used and currently freely distributed with strict observance of COVID 19 guidelines in, Madi – Okolo, Obongi, Arua, Moyo and Yumbe districts.

By Yekonia Bikowu.