In a variety of ways that suit their contexts, countries around the world have adapted international guidance on providing family planning care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tracking the extent to which these new policies are successful in maintaining women’s access to safe, high-quality care will provide valuable lessons for responses to future public health emergencies.
To mark International Self-Care Day, Population Services International and partners under the Self-Care Trailblazers Working Group are sharing a new Quality of Care Framework for Self-Care to help health systems monitor and support clients accessing health care on their own—without hindering clients’ ability to do so. Adapted from the Bruce-Jain family planning quality of care framework, the Quality of Care for Self-Care includes five domains and 41 standards that can be applied to a broad range of primary health care approaches to self-care.
Youth and adolescents need special consideration. This article articulates the important role of decision makers and technical advisors in enhancing access to RH services by youth during COVID-19.
COVID-19 has upended our lives and, possibly more significantly, many of our assumptions about its impact on the world. Experts in family planning are deeply concerned that interruptions in the contraceptive supply chain may result in a spike in unplanned births over the next six to nine months. And, if that proves to be true, what will be the impact on the environment?
Injectables are the most popular family planning method in Uganda but, until recently, were offered only by community health workers and at health facilities and hospitals. In contrast, the country’s 10,000 drug shops, which provide greater access in hard-to-reach rural areas, were authorized to supply only short-acting, nonprescription methods. FHI 360 supported the government of Uganda in training drug shop operators to offer injectables as well.
In October 2018, more than 100 organizations signed on to the Global Consensus on Meaningful Adolescent and Youth Engagement (MAYE). The question remains: what has been the impact of MAYE? We asked a few young leaders in the family planning movement to share their views.
This piece summarizes the experience of integrating family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) in the AFYA TIMIZA program, implemented by Amref Health Africa in Kenya. It provides insights to technical advisors and program managers that there is no one-size-fits-all approach in FP/RH service provision, access, and utilization: context is a critical factor in design and implementation.