By Allan Kai & Ian Mutiso
Poor information about contraceptive health has led to poor decision-making and health outcomes for mothers and their children.
These were the sentiments of Dr. Andrew Mulwa, the head of promotive and preventive services at the ministry of health.
He said this on Monday as Kenya joined the rest of the world in commemorating the annual World Contraceptive Day.
In a statement he read on behalf of the health ministry Cabinet Secretary Dr. Mutahi Kagwe, he stated that their successes in family planning service delivery have been curtailed by the “myths, misinformation, and misconceptions around modern contraceptives.”
Young women under the age of 25 have been found to be more susceptible to the myths surrounding contraceptives and birth control measures. The ministry claims to be working on improving sexual and reproductive health literacy to address the fears.
Director General of the National Council for population and development, Dr. Mohammed Sheikh, chimed in on the issue of misinformation about contraceptives. He stated that keeping in line with this year’s theme – “Breaking family planning myths in Kenya”, the government will continue ensuring factual and credible information and knowledge on voluntary family planning, continues to be universally accessible to all women of reproductive age.
Efforts by the Kenyan government to achieve this goal were applauded by UNFPA representative in Kenya Anders Thomsen, mentioning the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding ensuring a sustainable financing mechanism for the procurement of Family Planning commodities.
World contraception day is premised on the need for having contraceptive choices ensuring planned pregnancies and families through methods that are safe and preferred by the users.