• The latest assessment shows most young people prefer the two due to the lack of youth-friendly services in health facilities
• The analysis was conducted in 424 health facilities in Garissa, Kwale, Narok and West Pokot which are among the 13 counties between January to December 2022
Image: Handout
Most young people prefer using emergency contraceptives as a family planning method.
This is as per findings from an assessment of the progress of Accelerate Programme (AP), a five-year project that started in 2021 in 13 underserved and hard to reach counties.
The latest assessment shows most young people prefer the P2 due to the lack of youth-friendly services in health facilities.
The programme is designed to contribute towards International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) targets to eliminate unmet need for contraception, preventable maternal deaths, gender-based violence, and harmful traditional practices.
The analysis was conducted in 123 health facilities in Garissa, Kwale, Narok, and West Pokot which are among the 13 counties between January to December 2022.
They included 99 public health facilities, 16 private for-profit health facilities, and eight private not-for-profit health facilities.
The other implementing counties include Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, Kajiado, Samburu, Mandera, Marsabit, Homa Bay, Kilifi, and Nairobi.
Julius Njogu, a researcher from Population Services International said youth interviewed in Narok said healthcare providers would not serve clients who are less than 18 years, hence locking them out.
“Most of the health services in the communities you are being served by the person that knows you or knows your family members, so some of the young people said they fear going to the health facility because they might meet someone they know there,” he said.
“They prefer accessing the pills from the chemist so that they can use them without being judged or without meeting somebody from the family."
According to the survey, nearly all the assessed facilities stocked three or more different types of modern methods with the most common being pills.
However, only two-thirds or 69 per cent of the facilities were concurrently stocking five or more modern methods with Narok having fewer facilities stocking five or more modern methods at 44 per cent compared to 85 per cent in Kwale and 70 per cent in Garissa.
The survey further found that in the last 12 months preceding the assessment date, 63 per cent of the facilities reported at least one of their staff had received training on family planning services.
“Over the same period, slightly more than half of the facilities (54 per cent) reported at least one of the staff received training on GBV case management,” the survey shows.
“Notably, just 12 per cent and 28 per cent of facilities reported at least one staff was trained on GBV/SRH service integration and courtroom/forensic skills respectively."
From the report, the availability of adult PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) and treatment for bacterial STIs was lower among dispensaries and clinics.
The programme is being implemented by Population Services Kenya, Gender Violence and Recovery centre (GVRC), and Population Services International and is funded by the Danish government.