Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — Communication between young African couples about the number of children they would prefer to have is often far-fetched, but inwardly each partner has a dream of raising a stable and healthy family.

Though family planning programmes have been under way in all African countries for years now, they generally ignore the role of men or it is referred to in passing.

In Tanzania reproductive health advocacy campaigns are dispelling the myth that reproduction and fertility control are a women's responsibility.

An array of organisations, most of them private and voluntary, are involved in the campaigns under the policy co- ordination of the health ministry.

Unfounded rumours and misconceptions about modern family planning methods, however, persist as one of the non-governmental organisations, the Population Service International or PSI has found out.

PSI local affiliate, PSI-Tanzania, develops and implements social marketing programmes in HIV/AIDS prevention, family planning promotion and child health. Its principal goal is to improve the health and development of low-income Tanzanians.

Mistaken notions that PSI staff often have to explain away in the field include rumours that family planning pills make a woman infertile, cause deformed babies and cancer or itching of private parts.

The plain answer to such misconceptions is an emphatic "NO". But PSI-Tanzania does not stop there.

"We have developed a number of educational materials to help consumers and health care providers about family planning and the oral contraceptive pill generally," PSI-Tanzania's hormonal technical advisor, Susan Shulman, told PANA.

The educational materials include a consumer brochure countering commonly held beliefs and misconceptions about oral contraceptives, and a detailed description of the pill.

Under an initiative funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), PSI-Tanzania Thursday launched a new family planning product for its clientele.

The product, 'SafePlan,' is a low dose oral contraceptive pill manufactured by Wyeth Laboratories in the United States. Its introduction in Tanzania is intended to meet growing demand for a high quality family planning product.

"Research has shown that 42 percent of married Tanzanian women would like to space the birth of their next child or limit their family size," said Shulman.

Currently, only 18 percent of married women, or less than half of those who demand it are using a modern form of family planning.

In the first year, however, PSI intends to distribute 125,000 cycles of 'SafePlan' pill through Class One pharmacies, hospitals and clinics only in Dar es Salaam and four other major towns, namely, Arusha, Mwanza, Morogoro and Mbeya.

'SafePlan' comes in a pack of 28 oral contraceptive pills, generically branded as 'Duofem'.

It consists of low doses of estrogen and progesterone hormones plus ferrous fumarate (iron). It is proven to be 99 percent effective when used correctly and, at least 100 million women around the world have over the last 15 years used the pill to plan the size of their families.

Targeted Tanzanian women, aged 20-35 years, who have expressed a desire to space the birth of their next child, will buy 'SafePlan' in 36 pack dispensers at 150 shillings (approximately seven US cents) per cycle.

Commuters in Tanzanian towns pay the same amount for fares on shuttle buses per trip and it is affordable to the vast majority of the population.

In addition to preventing pregnancy, the pill also helps prevent anaemia, a serious problem affecting between 13 and 43 percent of Tanzanian women. It has also been proven to reduce the risk of ectopic pregnancy and breast diseases.

In Africa, 'SafePlan' is already on the market in Benin, Camroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.

Contraceptive pills are not distributed over the counter to customers like candies. Though a prescription may not always be necessary, behind-the-counter sales staff need to explain certain key points regarding side effects, adverse reactions, contraindications and use instructions before a client walks out with her pack.

"One minute extra time for a pharmacy worker to talk to a client can make all the difference", Shulman said, noting that dispensing staff in pharmacies usually overlook the aspect of dialoguing with customers.

"This is one of the big challenges we face in promoting the contraceptive products. If you give good counselling to customers, you build confidence in them and they will always come back to you", she explained.

Among educational materials that PSI-Tanzania has developed is a counselling card for providers. The card has screening questions and use instructions they should explain to clients.

More generic family planning promotion spots are under development for use on radio.

Family planning is important for Tanzanians because of the serious problems the population experiences that are associated with high fertility.

They include poverty and financial insecurity because women and families have more children than they can afford to take care of, high child mortality and morbidity, and high maternal mortality.

For every 100,000 births, an average of 529 women die in Tanzania yearly due to pregnancy and childbirth complications. A significant proportion of these deaths, medical experts say, could be avoided if all women who wanted no more children were able to stop childbearing.

Most of the deaths occur in rural areas where couples have virtually no access to contraceptive methods.

According to Shulman, the stumbling block to expanding access to contraceptives in the rural areas is a restriction imposed by the Tanzania Pharmacy Board. Statistics show there is a greater unmet demand for essential health products in rural areas than in towns.

"We are trying to get a dispensation from the pharmacy board so that we can reach the majority of married women of childbearing age in the countryside," Shulman added.

But the speed of contraceptive providers in reaching their rural destination depends on the slow wheels of the board, a government arm that controls the pharmaceutical industry in the country.