COVID-19 Contraception and Family Planning

A mobile clinical outreach team from Marie Stopes, a specialised sexual reproductive health and family planning organization on a site visit to Rabai hospital a rural area in the coastal region of Kenya, where they offer many sexual reproductive health services, including the full range of family planning options, emergency contraception, pre- and post natal care, and cervical cancer screening and treatment. The main activity at Rabai hospital was implants of a five year contraceptive solution for women.

Contraceptive and Family Planning services and supplies are CORE components of essential health services and access to these services is a fundamental human right.

This standard needs to be respected and protected as such by governments prioritising scarce resources during this pandemic. But with the focus of many health systems on the response to the COVID19 pandemic, the provision of basic contraception counselling, the delivery of contraceptive products and services and the functioning of supply chains have been disrupted and women and men are at a disadvantage in seeking care from their regular providers.