NAIROBI, Kenya Sept 24 – The Ministry of Health has rolled out free Hormonal Intrauterine Devices (IUDs), a contraceptive method often prescribed to women with heavy menstrual bleeding.
Dr Albert Ndwiga, Kenya’s Head of Family Planning, said the government made the contraceptive method available in all public health facilities across the country to offer more choices to women who may not access them due to cost or the medical challenges associated with traditional contraceptive methods.
“There’s a population of women who would benefit more from using hormonal-based family planning, such as the Hormonal Intrauterine Devices (IUDs). The Ministry of Health continues to train healthcare workers to ensure the quality of services provided,” he stated.
The Hormonal Intrauterine Devices (IUDs), were previously only available in private health facilities at a cost ranging from Sh20,000 to Sh35,000.
Ndwiga stated besides preventing pregnancy, hormonal IUDs also prevent menorrhagia, a condition characterized by painful or heavy periods that can last up to a period of ten days.
He added that if the condition is not treated it can lead to iron-deficiency anaemia.
“Besides preventing pregnancy, hormonal IUDs prevent menorrhagia, a condition characterized by painful or heavy periods that can last up to ten days thereby helping prevent iron-deficiency anaemia,” he said.
According to the 2022 Kenya Demographic Health Survey a family planning method being incompatible with a woman’s body is one of the reasons why 14 percent of women do not use any modern contraceptive method despite wanting to delay pregnancy.
Data from the Division of Family Planning Programme at the Ministry of Health show that healthcare providers have dispensed 6,816 devices to women across the country.
Nairobi county leads with a total of 1,285 hormonal IUDs distributed to women followed closely by Homa Bay (1,051).
Other counties include Kakamega (593), Nyeri (403), and Migori (372) accounting for nearly half of the total number disbursed so far by the Ministry.
The government had procured 62,000 hormonal IUD units through the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA) however It took the country nine years to offer the service in public health facilities as the government could afford to provide it.
In 2015, the World Health Organization(WHO) added the hormonal IUD to the WHO Essential Medicines List, four years later, Kenya added it to the country’s list in 2019, authorizing its use in health facilities however, the method has only been available in private hospitals, making it difficult for majority of women to access it.
The Ministry of Health has so far trained 5,342 healthcare workers in 1,788 public health facilities in the first phase of readying the country to offer the services.
