IUD campaign in Oshikoto to decrease teen pregnancy
TUNOHOLE MUNGOBA
ONGWEDIVA
The Onandjokwe State Hospital’s family medicine department, led by Dr Esperance Luvindao, has received the green light to commence with a free IUD insertion campaign for girls and women in the Oshikoto Region.
The procedure will also be available at the Onyanya, Onayena and Okankolo clinics.
The campaign will begin this Friday, 14 May, at Onandjokwe and on 4 June at the three clinics. The insertions will then continue every Friday to provide all women and girls a chance to receive an IUD.
The aim of the campaign is to not only provide a facility for women and girls to receive the IUD (intrauterine device), but to also receive information on the different contraceptive options and to educate young women and girls on sexual reproductive health.
Low contraceptive use
“The initiative was started on the baseline knowledge of how the usage of contraceptives is very low amongst our community and that is not only here in Oshikoto Region, but other parts of Namibia as well.
“That is why the aim of this campaign is not only for the insertions of these IUDs, but to provide information and educate young women and girls,” says Luvindao.
“We have many cases of women walking into the hospital and they usually only request condoms and some are at least knowledgeable enough to ask about the injection. That is pretty much it,” she said.
The department received training from gynaecologist Dr Pala Pala in April this year and based on the training, the department decided to opt for inserting copper IUDs instead of the hormonal ones.
“This is because the copper IUDs do not come with any hormonal side-effects such as weight gain and acne. In addition, many women are usually discouraged by these side effects and opted for the best option,” Luvindao said.
The campaign aims to target a decrease of 50% in teenage pregnancy in Oshikoto by 2022.
“We do have plans on having this campaign in other parts of the region as we are fully aware that sexual health and reproduction education is needed everywhere. Once this is a successful, we definitely target other regions,” she said.
ONGWEDIVA
The Onandjokwe State Hospital’s family medicine department, led by Dr Esperance Luvindao, has received the green light to commence with a free IUD insertion campaign for girls and women in the Oshikoto Region.
The procedure will also be available at the Onyanya, Onayena and Okankolo clinics.
The campaign will begin this Friday, 14 May, at Onandjokwe and on 4 June at the three clinics. The insertions will then continue every Friday to provide all women and girls a chance to receive an IUD.
The aim of the campaign is to not only provide a facility for women and girls to receive the IUD (intrauterine device), but to also receive information on the different contraceptive options and to educate young women and girls on sexual reproductive health.
Low contraceptive use
“The initiative was started on the baseline knowledge of how the usage of contraceptives is very low amongst our community and that is not only here in Oshikoto Region, but other parts of Namibia as well.
“That is why the aim of this campaign is not only for the insertions of these IUDs, but to provide information and educate young women and girls,” says Luvindao.
“We have many cases of women walking into the hospital and they usually only request condoms and some are at least knowledgeable enough to ask about the injection. That is pretty much it,” she said.
The department received training from gynaecologist Dr Pala Pala in April this year and based on the training, the department decided to opt for inserting copper IUDs instead of the hormonal ones.
“This is because the copper IUDs do not come with any hormonal side-effects such as weight gain and acne. In addition, many women are usually discouraged by these side effects and opted for the best option,” Luvindao said.
The campaign aims to target a decrease of 50% in teenage pregnancy in Oshikoto by 2022.
“We do have plans on having this campaign in other parts of the region as we are fully aware that sexual health and reproduction education is needed everywhere. Once this is a successful, we definitely target other regions,” she said.
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