Rwanda Biomedical Centre received Family Planning Commodities Lifesaving medicines worth 1,407,000 USD donated by UNFPA in support to the Government of Rwanda to ensure availability of these essential commodities up to the last mile.
According to Dr. Francis Cyiza, the Director of Health Facility Program Unit in RBC said that this will help women access the options of contraceptives which best match the nature of their bodies for effective family planning.
According to a 2020 report of Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey, While the modern contraceptive prevalence rates (mCPR) increased from 47.5% to 58%, unmet need for FP has still remained very high at 13.6% for the past decade (RDHS, 2020).
The RDHS 2020, indicates that the fertility rate in Rwanda averaged 4.1 per woman; 3.4 in urban areas and 4.3 in rural areas. Noella Bigirimana, the Deputy Director-General of RBC, said these tools will be available to adolescents and women who need them the most. UNFPA is committed to ensuring that every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. Universal access to safe, high quality reproductive health care is central to achieving this vision.
Kwabena Asante-Ntiamoah, the UNFPA country representative, said this initiative aims at contributing to the prevention of unintended pregnancies and supports couples as well as individuals to protect their lives by deciding when they want to have children.
Family Planning is a cornerstone for the sustainable development. It is evident that investment in FP could yield short, medium- and long-term benefits that cut across several sectors including health, economy, education, agriculture, infrastructure and others.(End)