Innocent Gahigana
1 March 2007
Kigali — Health experts are searching for possible methods to limit birth rates in the society. Local and international medical experts met February 27 at the Ministry of Health (MINISANTE) headquarters in Kigali to deliberate on a birth rate control method to be applied in Rwanda. One of the methods they have suggested is the Standard Day Method (SDM) of cycle-beads use introduced in Rwanda in 2002 by the Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH) based at the Georgetown University in the US.
According to Dr. Solange Hakiba of the health ministry, when properly used SDM cycle-beads method is more than 95 per cent effective to birth rate control.
"As health advisors to the government, we are tasked to identify how SDM cycle-beads should be used effectively in birth control," Dr. Hakiba said during the one-day reproductive health consultative meeting. Dr. Ferdinand Bikorimana, also of the health ministry said the existence of SDM cycle-beads in Rwanda's 28 sites had elicited interest from providers and the community (end users). "As of October 2005, Rwanda had over three thousand SDM cycle-beads users with over 90 per cent of whom are first time family planning users," Bikorimana said. Bikorimana said the method has been included in on-going comprehensive contraceptive technology updates for service providers in former Byumba and Kibungo provinces using the official government of Rwanda curriculum for in-service family planning training.
He said this is done through IRH collaboration with USAID funded IntraHealth's Twubakane project to build capacity within this new project and its governmental and non-governmental partners. Bikorimana said that this will include providing technical assistance to create SDM workplans, training of trainers and, monitoring and evaluation.
The health experts' efforts come on the heels of the government commitment to limit population growth, with three children per family as a move to fight persistent poverty in Africa's most densely populated country.
The SDM cycle-beads use is considered to be effective method to control unplanned pregnancy based on the scientific analysis of the fertile period of the menstrual cycle of a woman.
According to IRH website, SDM cycle-beads now applicable in over twenty countries worldwide, make it simple for a woman to track her menstrual cycle and clearly identify the days she could become pregnant.
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