Ministerial Press Statement in Commemoration of the
World Contraception Day
23rd September 2015
HON. Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye
MINISTER OF HEALTH
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
P. O. BOX 7272,
KAMPALA - UGANDA
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Press Statement in Commemoration of the World
Contraception Day
On behalf of the Ministry of Health and the Government of Uganda, I take this
opportunity to welcome you all to this Press Conference, organized in
commemoration of the World Contraception Day that is held every year on the
26th Day of September.
As a country, we honour this day to create awareness about Contraception and
its benefits to the health of the mother, child, and family and to the nation as a
whole. This is the first time that Uganda is honouring this day.
Internationally, the day is being under the theme “It is your life, know your
future, Know your partner.” This theme encourages young people to feel
confident talking to their partners about sexual health and to take a planned
approach to their contraception choice.
However, as Uganda, the day is being held under the theme “Mobilizing men as
Partners and champions in accessing and utilizing contraception”. This theme
reminds us of the critical role men play in ensuring that mothers, babies and the
entire family have a better life. Much as most of the available contraceptive
technologies are used by women, it has been shown that in our society, men
play a big role in determining the number and spacing of children.
Research has shown that men's support or opposition to their partners' practice
of family planning has a strong impact on contraceptive use. In many of our
communities; most decisions that affect family life are made by men. Men
typically have more say than women in the decision to use contraception and in
the number of children that the couple will have.
In addition, a number of programmatic and cultural factors have limited men’s
abilities to take an active role in family planning practice and reproductive
health decision making. Most services have tended to be aimed at women and
children. Most family planning and reproductive health services are designed to
meet women’s or children’s needs and, as a result, men often do not consider
them as a source of information and services.
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As Government, we believe that involving men in Family Planning and
Conceptive use will give us a major mile stone in increasing Contraception intake
in the country. Involving men in family planning will not only ease the
responsibility borne by women in terms of decision-making for family-planning
matters, but will also accelerate the understanding and practice of family
planning in general.
The government of Uganda, together with development partners have
considerably increased funding for procurement of contraceptives in Uganda
over the past years, however awareness and utilization of these commodities
has remained low.
This financial year, the Government of Uganda has committed sh17billion
($6.9million) for Reproductive Health Commodities of which sh13billion has
been allocated for procurement of Contraceptives.
Additionally, partners, majorly UNFPA, USAID, DFID and Global Fund have also
committed sh67billion this financial year to boost the national stock.
However, more funds are still need to for programs geared towards increasing
the uptake and awareness of the contraceptives.
For every 100 women in Uganda who wish to either delay a pregnancy or stop
childbearing altogether, 34 lack access to modern contraceptives (34% unmet
need for contraception), yet only 26% of women of reproductive age are using
modern contraceptives.
As a result of low levels of uptake of contraception, Uganda has one of the
fastest growing populations in the world, with a fertility rate of about 6 children
per woman. This has continued to exert pressure on our natural resources,
thereby threatening the future of the country.
Districts in the Karamoja region and West Nile have the lowest Contraceptive
prevalence rate between 0 and 15% while Kampala has the
highest uptake of upto 37%. The uptake in the eastern and northern region
stands between 16 and 26%. This, according to the World Health Organization,
shows that the country is still lagging behind Contraceptive use.
These low levels contribute to the country’s unacceptably high maternal
mortality rate, with, 438 deaths for every 100,000 live births. Mothers die while
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giving birth to life or shortly after that. This ratio has stagnated for a while, and
results from unsafe abortions due to unplanned pregnancies.
Under the Ministry of Health Costed Implementation Plan (CIP) for Scaling up
Family Planning, the Government of Uganda is promoting both Long term and
short term family Planning methods. These services are provided free of charge
in both public and private health facilities.
The short term methods being provided are; Condom Use, Pills, Emergency
Contraception, Injectables, and Breast Feeding. The Long term methods
provided in the health facilities are; the IUD (coil), Implants, Vasectomy and
Tubal Ligation.
As we commemorate this date, we appeal to the men to do the following;
1. Use contraceptive methods that require their direct participation such as
condoms, natural family planning, and vasectomy.
2. Support their partners’ use of contraception through joint decision
making about contraceptive method use and family size
3. Encourage and support their peers to use Family Planning services (male
champions)
As a Ministry, we are undertaking a number of strategies to increase awareness
about modern contraceptive technologies, and marking the World
Contraception Day is one such strategy.
I also wish to appeal to stakeholders to strengthen male involvement by:
1. Developing well-targeted, focused male-involvement programs that can
have an impact on uptake of contraception
2. Design Targeted IEC directed at men to change men's attitudes towards
family planning, stimulate discussion between partners and motivate men
to support the practice of family planning.
3. Involve men in program design and implementation. Men themselves are
the best sources of information about effective outreach and service
delivery strategies to men. As such, it is essential to involve men
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throughout program design and implementation to ensure that services
and informational materials address their concerns and needs.
4. Find ways of adapting existing services to make them more
accommodating and attractive to men include dedicating hours for men;
make use of community events e.g Football matches and other
community-specific events that tend to bring men together
5. Reach men through organized groups e.g Male Action Groups; special
focus on young men-adolescents- so they can appreciate from early on
their role in contraceptive use and making decision with their partners
about how best to space births and plan their families.
I wish to thank the health development partners and all implementing partners,
who have supported the cause for Contraception in Uganda. Special thanks go
to UNFPA, USAID, Global Fund and partners who support Contraceptive use in
Uganda.
This year’s National celebrations will be held on Saturday 26th September in
Lwengo District. I once again take this opportunity to welcome you all to the
district as we honour the day.
I thank you all
For God and My Country
Hon. Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye
Minister of Health
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