UNFPA's Family Planning 2020 will correct gaps in family planning

Colombo (News 1st): A media briefing was convened by the UNFPA highlighting the commitment that Sri Lanka made towards Family Planning 2020. Family Planning 2020 is a global partnership that empowers women and girls and works together to address the most challenging barriers to expanding access to contraceptives. In a report published, it was stated that in 2018, over 2.5 million women followed modern methods after  Sexual and Reproductive Health Education in Sri Lanka resulting in:

• 1 million women avoiding unplanned pregnancies
• 400,000 unsafe abortions prevented
• 150 maternal deaths averted

Speaking at this event, several other dignitaries highlighted other crucial figures that were achieved due to this partnership. UNFPA Representative in Sri Lanka Ritsu Nacken noted that Sri Lanka has come a long way since 1994. She noted that according to the annual progress report on FP 20-20; as a result of modern methods of contraception over one-million implant pregnancy in Sri Lanka have been prevented, and over 400,000 safe abortions have been averted in just one-year. She added that despite these achievements there are still gaps. She went onto note that 2016 demographic and health survey, highlights that 35% of married women are not using contraception and teenage pregnancy are at 4.6% while there is a sub-national disparity up to 8%. Therefore she added that they need to address these last mile gaps and for that, they need really good partnerships and learning from each other. Dr Sanjeewa Godakanda of the Family Health Bureau at the Ministry of Health had this to say,

"Although the health care sector is now aware of the human rights aspect of it, and also the health care aspects of it, the process of the concepts penetrating into general public has been slow. There is more work to be done. Family planning is no longer about population control. Even if we want to control the population we can't do it. Family planning health care workers focus is on entirely human rights as well as health aspects. At the moment we are experiencing a stagnation of family planning performance indicators. This is going to affect not only the health care sector, health indicators, but then the general well-being of the public as well, because most of our achievements in family planning was behind it during the last few decades. So unless we improve our family planning performance it will be hard for us to achieve sustainable development goals as well as improve the overall health and well being of general public."