In an effort to empower women and improve access to family planning services, Society for Family Health (SFH) has trained 150 healthcare workers and community mobilisers on promoting and strengthening the uptake of self care contraceptives in Niger State.
100 family planning providers were trained in 81 facilities while 50 community mobilisers were trained across 10 local government areas of the state. The Behavioural Change Communication (SBC) officer for SFH DISC, Nufin’allah Al-hamdu who disclosed this to our reporter said the DISC project aims to shift the health system to a more patient-centered approach, with individuals taking charge of their own healthcare.
He added that the DISC project is under the sexual and reproductive health sphere with focus on contraception and family planning.
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“The whole essence of self-care is to ensure women have more autonomy over their sexual and reproductive health, allowing them to decide when they want to get pregnant. By providing access to self-injecting contraceptives, we aim to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the strain on healthcare facilities, and improve women’s overall reproductive health.
“Under the DISC project, healthcare providers in 81 facilities across ten local government areas in Niger State have been trained and mentored to deliver self-care contraceptive services. Concurrently, community mobilisers have been empowered to advocate for contraceptives and refer interested individuals to healthcare facilities.
He highlighted the advantages of self-injection to include decongestion of healthcare facilities, reduced waiting times for patients, cost savings on transportation, and a decreased workload for healthcare providers; while it offers the women privacy and convenience, addressing the stigma associated with contraceptive use.
“The small size of the syringe used for self-injection also helps alleviate fear and anxiety,” Al-hamdu said.