From the left to the right, Gatara communal administrator, Kayanza’s governor, Public Health Minister and UNFPA representative in Burundi

KAYANZA November 29th (ABP) – The Minister in charge of Public Health and the Fight against AIDS, together with senior executives of the Ministry of Public Health, representatives of organizations working in the health sector and both communal and provincial administrative officials, joined the people of Gatara commune in Kayanza province (northern Burundi) to celebrate the world day dedicated to contraception 2018 edition associated this year with that of the population.

This celebration coincided with the official launch of an injection called “Yasana press”, which will help expand the range of contraceptive methods available in Burundi, as well as the privacy and confidentiality of the person, as a result that the woman can do herself a self-injection, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.

Minister Thaddée Ndikumana commended the initiative of both provincial and communal administration for teaching people about contraceptive methods as well as reproductive health, especially for parents and children.

Dr. Ndikumana said that in collaboration with UNFPA and WHO, his ministry will support Kayanza community radio in its health-related broadcasts to enable the people of Kayanza province and other provinces to follow its various programs on human health.With regard to the so-called “Sayana Press” injection, he said that each interested person will have to choose among the various methods that which seems to them easy and important.

For him, it will be an honor for Kayanza province because other radio stations have not chosen reproductive health as an editorial line.

The minister in charge of public health indicated that the issue of overpopulation is a reality in Burundi because, he said, at the national level there are 350 inhabitants per km² and in some communes and provinces, the average density of the population is over 600 inhabitants per km², including the Gatara commune where the average density is estimated at about 1000 hab / km².

In addition, Dr. Ndikumana recalled the challenges of population growth including poverty, famine, deficiency diseases, school dropouts, to name but a few.

To overcome those challenges that may arise when births are not limited, the Minister of Public Health urged administrative officials in general and the citizens to think of family planning in order to reach in 2025 50% of the Burundian citizens who have limited births and those who have adhered to the different methods. According to him, this is part of the Burundian government’s plan to treat pregnant women and children under the age of five free of charge.

In relation to the definition of family planning, Dr. Ndikumana meant that limiting births is preparing the future of the newborn while spacing births with an interval of at least two years. According to him, the Burundian government predicts that in 2025, each couple will have to give birth to a maximum of three children.

However, the Minister of Public Health and the Fight against AIDS called on young girls especially those between 15 and 25 years old to conduct a good behavior so as not to get pregnant while still on the school bench.

Kayanza province governor Anicet Ndayizeye said peace and security are a reality in his province both inside and on the Burundian-Rwandan border.

According to that provincial authority, Kayanza province has about 750,000 inhabitants with a provincial average density of 652 inhabitants per km².

The Gatara commune where the festivities took place counts about 1000 inhabitants on the km², and records annually about one hundred girls leaving the school following the unwanted pregnancies.

He noted that his province has seen an improvement in adherence to contraceptive methods, where contraceptive prevalence was estimated at 19% in 2015 to 42%.

To keep up the momentum, the governor of Kayanza Province promises to raise awareness in addition to teaching because, he said, the high birth rate makes teenagers leave classes in favor of searching for jobs.

He recalled that Kayanza Province has adopted a new strategy to raise awareness about reproductive health by setting up a radio station called “Ubuzima Fm” which, for him, will allow the Kayanza province and the other provinces of the country to talk about reproductive health and its contribution to economic development. He asked the ministry of health to support that radio station once established.

On his part, the UNFPA representative in Burundi Dr. Richmond Tiemoko said that the theme of the day was “family planning is a human right” and that to fulfill this right, the people are called on to benefit from correct information and broadening the range of choice of contraceptive methods while leaving no one behind.

Dr. Tiemoko recalled that parents have a basic human right to freely and responsibly determine the number and spacing of their children.

Thus, he concluded, family planning is a human right for couples, not a control of the people.

Regarding demographic and health surveys conducted in Burundi, he reported that almost one in three women in union (30%) has unmet needs in family planning with 14% to limit births and 16% to space them.

The UNFPA representative in Burundi said that family planning allows women to continue their education, to seek and get better jobs and to contribute more to the well-being of their families, their nation and global prosperity.

In the same way, he pointed out that as a woman becomes financially well off, her children receive a better education and the benefits are good for future generations.

Dr. Tiemoko said that Sayana Press will help expand the range of contraceptive methods available in Burundi, the privacy and confidentiality of the person because the woman can make a self-injection.

He pledged that UNFPA, together with its partners, will have to join forces to help achieve the 2025 vision goals of “lowering the population growth rate from 2.4% to 2% in 2025 “.

According to him, this will only be possible if the use of family planning reaches at least 50%. His organization is committed to strengthening support for Burundi’s initiatives to eliminate maternal deaths, unmet needs for family planning and sexual and gender-based violence.

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