Kenya makes significant progress toward 2015 goal

Late last year, Kenya Ministry of Health Prof. Fred H. K. Segor and other senior officials gathered in Nairobi to highlight global progress toward FP2020 goals by showcasing Kenya’s leadership on family planning and demonstrating that public-private partnerships are critical to expanding contraceptive access and options. Additional speakers at the event represented the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Bayer HealthCare, Jhpiego (an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University). The Government of Kenya announced it was nearly on track to achieving its goal of reaching a 56% modern contraceptive prevalence rate by 2015. Last October, the country launched a 2012-2016 National Family Planning Costed Implementation Plan, which outlines its priority strategies for increasing contraceptive prevalence and the costs needed to implement them. In fiscal year 2013/ 2014, the Government of Kenya committed US$ 9M to family planning programs. The event in Nairobi took place just days before the International Conference on Family Planning in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (12-15 November).

Since the Summit, innovative public-private partnerships have played a key role in expanding women’s access to a range of contraceptive options. Bayer and Merck, for example, have made significant commitments to FP2020 by cutting the price of their long-acting, reversible contraceptive implants (Jadelle, and Implanon® & Implanon NXT® respectively) by 50 per cent.

Category: