REMARKS BY OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF NCPD ON THE 2021 WORLD CONTRACEPTION DAY
REMARKS BY OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT DR MOHAMED A. SHEIKH ON THE OCCASION OF THE 2021 WORLD CONTRACEPTION DAY ON 26TH SEPTEMBER AT THE SERENA HOTEL, NAIROBI, 9.30AM
Our Chief Guest, CAS, Ministry of Health, Dr. Mercy Mwangangi
The CAS, The National Treasury and Planning, Mr. Eric Wafukho
The CAS, Ministry of Public Service and Gender, Hon. Jebii Kilimo
The CAS, Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs
Development Partners present
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am delighted to join you today as we mark the World Contraception Day 2021. We mark this important occasion amidst the Covid19 Pandemic which we are all aware has changed our way of doing things; I am however happy that we have adopted to the new normal while leveraging on technology for posterity. This is a critical time to ensure that our population is safe and the most vulnerable among us are protected especially our women and girls.
Chief Guest,
The theme for this year’s World Contraception Day is Leaving No One Behind: Expanding Sustainable Access to Contraceptives in the Covid-19 Pandemic and beyond. This theme would not have come at a better time like now: it is time key players in this space stepped up awareness creation and continually educate the public on the important role of family planning plays, as a key component in the development of any nation.
We must also remain committed to this call to ensure we close gap on the 3 zeroes at such a moment.
Chief Guest,
I wish to underscore that the National Council for Population and Development continues to create awareness on Population and Development issues in Kenya as stipulated in our mandate; more specifically, we continue high level advocacy to ensure political commitments towards increased funding for the family planning programme in Kenya; we have specifically built a sustained knowledge sharing campaign overtime to reduce and debunk myths and misconceptions while increasing uptake.
We Note that, over the years, the Government of Kenya, has continually increased funding the family planning program. This, will over time, be fully domestically funded which currently is almost half (49%) from out-of-pocket and donor support with a small percent of government funding. Given its low-middle-income status, the country needs to find ways of supporting its development programmes including that of family planning.
We remain upbeat that attaining the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) milestones be key in meeting the unmet needs for family planning in Kenya;
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I wish not to over emphasize the essence of contraception; but allow me to note that it prevents pregnancy-related health risks for women, especially adolescents aged 15-19. These young adolescent women, must not be left behind; they must get good education to realise their potential. This in turn will be to Kenya in reaping its demographic dividend.
Family Planning has an inherent potential to reduce poverty considering that investments in contraception translate to economic growth and development.
Ladies and Gentlemen
While Kenya’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has dropped in the last decade; from 4.6 to 3.4 births per woman between 2009 and 2020, there are notable variations among counties. While some counties such as Kirinyaga reported low number of births per woman of reproductive age (15-49), women in the Northern Region reported high births of up to 5 per woman.
These variations are also notable in the uptake of family planning services where Kirinyaga County leads with a modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (mCPR) at 77.5% among married / in union women compared to Mandera County with mCPR of 2.3% in 2020 while the national rate stood at 61%; Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) was 68% for all methods and a demand satisfaction of 77%. A reduction in fertility provides an opportunity for accelerated economic growth. Therefore, there is need to support counties with high fertility and low mCPR to improve these indicators.
As I Conclude, Ladies and Gentlemen
I take note that during the 4th National Leaders’ Conference on Population and Development in May 2021, key recommendations by the delegates and atop of these were on issues family planning: a call to advocate for implementation of the Abuja Declaration commitment to allocate 15% of the national budget to the health sector for sustainability purposes was key;
Chief Guest, allow me to reiterate that NCPD continues to play its rightful role and will is work hand in hand with the Ministry of Health, the Division of Reproductive and Maternal Health, other Government Ministries and Departments, County Governments and key stakeholders to address family planning concerns for the realization of national, regional and international commitments.
Thank you very much and may God Bless you all.
