Kena Health in Rosebank provides contraception options
The Clinical Care lead at Kena Health in Rosebank believes technology can help women with contraception choices and options.
Nearly half of all pregnancies globally, about 121 million, are unintended.
South Africa is no exception – 65% of pregnancies between 2015 and 2019 were unintended, and 36% ended in abortion, according to the State of World Population 2022 report. This high rate of pregnancy costs the country billions and impacts lives significantly.
In a country with high unemployment (particularly prevalent among the youth), and persistently high HIV and gender-based violence rates, contraception is a hugely important issue that needs a rethink, according to Dr Chido Siame, clinical care lead at Kena Health located in Rosebank.
Siame said on September 26 which was World Contraception Day, the country needed to give serious thought to how to readjust its approach to contraception—and technology could well be the key.
“While the availability of free contraception at public health clinics is a notable achievement, the high pregnancy rate and persistent unmet needs for contraception show that there is still work to be done,” she said. “Unfortunately, it’s also a reality that, in this society at least, contraception is a women’s issue more than a man’s one, so the context of female empowerment has to be taken into account.”
Siame said a study of contraceptive use and sexual behaviour among South African women showed that multiple factors impacted the use of contraception. Important factors were the attitude of male partners, long waiting periods, erratic supply of contraceptives at public health clinics and substandard or biased counselling from nurses.
Further factors would include the stigma attached to contraception in some communities (because it is presumed to indicate promiscuity), how easy various contraceptive methods were to use and side effects.
An important driver is that many women are ill-informed about the female reproductive system and how it works, as well as the full range of contraceptive alternatives open to them.
Siame noted that education was an important intervention that needed to happen. “Research also shows a strong link between the attitudes of healthcare providers and the uptake of contraception. Improved patient/ provider counselling is essential, along with the need to maintain confidentiality.”
She argued that given the constraints of the public health system, technology can play an essential role in providing South African women with the private, high-quality and affordable advice and counselling they need to understand their contraceptive options.
A good example was the Kena Health smartphone app, which addressed many issues preventing women’s access to contraception.
Details: You can download the Kena Health App at https://www.kena.health/download-the-app/
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