DKT Liberia, the organization at the vanguard of providing Liberians with access to Sexual and Reproduction Health options, at a recent media parley shared the various innovative steps being taken by the organization to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the access to Family Planning. According to the Country Manager,Antonio Cazares Turcott, “The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on access to Family Planning products and services all around the world. Not only did the supply chain of Family Planning products crash from production to international shipment, but also the availability of healthcare providers has been disrupted.” Despite this scenario,he explained that the Liberians’ Family Planning needs are not on hold during this pandemic. As such he reiterated the commitment of DKT Liberia to its principle of ensuring access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Right (SRHR) under any circumstances by putting in place innovative actions to mitigate COVID-19 impact on access to Family Planning.
Mr. Turcott stated that, as part of their innovative quick response to the pandemic, “DKT launched an SOS hotline for pregnant women and women who need assistance and identifying maternal health or Family Planning service providers.We rolled out a phone survey to identify healthcare providers willing to remain open and offered special promotions for Family Planning coupled with a phone survey reaching out to DKT potential clients previously recruited in communities.” He added that plans were in top gear to send 100,000 interactive SMS messages to educate and offer Family Planning products and services. This he said was at the backdrop of the promotion of free Lydia Oral Contraceptive Pills (OCP) doorstep delivery in Montserrado and the partnership with Street Child Liberia and Planned Parenthood Liberia in the distribution of Family Planning products.
