Watch for ICFP Coverage from Kigali

This week, CanWaCH will be showcasing perspectives on Canadian leadership in global health from Kigali, Rwanda for the 5th International Conference on Family Planning.  

Check out CanWaCH’s Acting Executive Director, Julia Anderson live from Kigali, Rwanda at the International Conference on Family Planning. Earlier today, she had the opportunity to chat with Minister Bibeau about Canadian leadership in sexual and reproductive health and rights!

Wednesday, November 14, 2018 

Katja Iversen, President/CEO of Women Deliver, called us to action at a breakfast hosted by Women Deliver this morning: « It is time to nudge, to push, to fall down, to stand up, to double down. It is a powerful moment and we are a powerful movement for gender equality. » 

The Women Deliver 2019 Conference will take place one year from now, from 3-6 June 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. It will be the world’s largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights and wellbeing of girls and women in the 21st century. 

Join fellow Canadians who are organizing from coast to coast to coast to get the entire country participating in events, discussions and actions leading up to the Women Deliver 2019 Conference to raise awareness about gender equality and women and girls’ health, rights and wellbeing.

Dr. Patricee Douglas reminds us of the strength of moments like the International Conference on Family Planning and Women Deliver 2019. A young leader at Women Deliver 2016 in awe of other young women changemakers she went home to Guyana and founded SRHR Adventures to equip women & girls with the information they need to take charge of their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Like youth advocacy itself, today’s Youth Plenary was bold, dynamic, engaging and powerful. 26 monologues by storytellers from around the globe with one cohesive message – adolescents’ and youth’s needs for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights are real, are urgent and are diverse. 

Tuesday, November 13, 2018 

The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development, today announced up to $104.4 million in funding for projects that take a comprehensive approach to SRHR, including universal access to family planning and access to safe and legal abortion at the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) in Kigali, Rwanda. Read more here.

Monday, November 12, 2018 

Today’s site visit was to the Mayange Health Centre in Eastern Rwanda.

Mayange Health Centre Outpatient Treatment Building
Mayange Health Centre Outpatient Treatment Building

There are 503 health centres in Rwanda. On this visit, we gained an understanding of the benefits of the task shifting, integration of family planning in other services including voluntary counselling and testing for HIV, antenatal care, maternity, service provision of FP within HCs (through youth corners), referral mechanisms and the monitoring and evaluation of Community Health Workers (CHW).

Community Health Worker discusses the delivery of family planning services to adolescents and women in her village.
Community Health Worker discusses the delivery of family planning services to adolescents and women in her village.

The visit included witnessing a CHW in action, showcasing the package of FP (provision of injectable and oral FP methods), data collection and reporting, and innovative mobile phone use in maternal and child health services at the community level. We also learned about the monitoring and evaluation system put in place for community-based based programs including their referral mechanism, health center staff visits at CHW’S homes and monthly meetings.

Sunday, November 11, 2018 

Today’s site visit was to the District Pharmacy of the Kamonyi District.

Kamonyi District Pharmacy

There are 30 district pharmacies in Rwanda, one per district. A district pharmacy (DP) is an independent entity within the Rwandan Health System at the district level. A DP is responsible for storage of FP among other commodities, distribution within hospitals and health centres. Through this site visit, we learned about the supply chain management system in Rwanda from the central warehouse to the beneficiaries (last mile) and the Electronic Logistic Management Information System (ELMIS) used to track the use of and need for drugs to prevent stock-outs in health facilities.

The ELMIS system has achieved the following:

  • Decreased the manually intensive paper reporting process over a 3 month period to real-time date

  • Reduced processing period of order period from 5 days to 2 hours

  • Districts went from the inability to track items to be able to track items to the last mile

  • Provided supply and demand data previously unavailable

  • Reduced inventory carrying costs, level of effort and inventory process management time

Director of the Kamonyi District Pharmacy providing ICFP 2018 delegates with an overview of Rwanda’s District Pharmacy
Director of the Kamonyi District Pharmacy providing ICFP 2018 delegates with an overview of Rwanda’s District Pharmacy

With adequate funding, technology can overcome supply chain management challenges and make sure that the right products in the right quantities in the right quantities are in the right place at the right time for the right cost – to those who need them.

Saturday, November 10, 2018 

health clinic in Rwanda

At this clinic, Partners in Health uses sport and an adolescent ‘hub’ to destigmatize comprehensive health services from vaccines to health screening services to a full range of family planning offerings

ICFP Delegates meet with Peer Health Educators at the Nyamirama Adolescent Youth Corner.

Maternity and Newborn Centre at the Nyamirama Health Centre.

Women’s recreational basketball game in progress as part of Shooting Touch’s Rwanda Program. Initiated in 2012, Shooting Touch put down program roots in Rwanda and is now serving over 700 youth and over 350 women in four rural communities. Shooting Touch is transforming its basketball courts into classrooms where youth, women, and their communities can learn essential health education, develop valuable life skills, and have fun playing the sport of basketball. The oldest player to participate in the women’s program is 67 years young!

Check the Lead On Canada Facebook page for more updates. 

Publié:

novembre 14, 2018


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CanWaCH


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