Marking of the World Contraception Day in Kosovo
“Don’t leave it to the chance. It is your future, your choice”
Wednesday 26th September is World Contraception Day. This is a worldwide campaign with a vision for a world where every pregnancy is wanted. Its mission is to improve awareness on contraception and to enable young people to make informed decisions on sexual and reproductive health. World Contraception Day 2013 focuses on empowering young people to think ahead and build contraception into their future plans, in order to prevent an unplanned pregnancy or sexually transmitted infection (STI).
An estimated 222 million women in developing countries have an unmet need for family planning at a time when funding for sexual and reproductive services has dropped dramatically.
Kosovo has the youngest population in Europe, with 60% of population being between the ages of 15-29. Still, according to the Demographic and Health Survey 2009, Contraceptive Prevalence Rate for modern contraception has decreased from 22.6 in 2003 to 15% in 2009. Although data on induced abortion is missing, it is likely that abortion is frequently used as a fertility regulation method, similar situation as in the other countries in the region
Failing to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents and young would contribute to high rates of unintended pregnancy and HIV. At the same time, teenage motherhood significantly reduces a girl’s chances of obtaining a high school diploma. This will certainly contribute to increased economic burden for the community and the society.
In Kosovo, World Contraception Day was marked under the motto “Don’t leave it to the chance. It is your future, your choice”. With the support of UNFPA, through Luxembourg funds, the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Center for Development of Family Medicine (CDFM) and Kosovo Population Foundation (KOPF) implemented a series of activities, like distribution of 15 000 brochures on “Misconceptions on Family Planning” through daily newspaper, peer education activities and seminar for health professionals.
National TV station “Koha Vision” covered the event during morning show.
Mr. Rifat Batusha from KOPF and Dr. Memli Morina, gynecologist , participated in the live morning show where they informed the audience on the importance of modern family planning methods, myths and misconceptions versus evidence in contraception and youth peer activities on health promotion and behavior change activities.
During the day, at two info point stands at Prishtina city center, youth peer educators distributed brochures, free condoms and provided health education talks to young people on healthy sexual behavior, including promotion of condom use as a dual protection;
On Monday, October 7th, as a continuation of the WCD, seminar on “Myths and Misconceptions versus Evidence on Contraception” was held in Prishtina, with participation of more than 50 family medicine doctors, nurses, and gynecologists and midwifes. The seminar was accredited by Ministry of Health and was facilitated by experts of the UK Royal College and Eastern European Institute for Reproductive Health. Practical issued addressed during the seminar were highly appreciated by participants.
