In 2003, ECafrique partner Equilbres & Populations (E&P) undertook EC service delivery trials in francophone Africa. With funding from the Compton Foundation, E&P worked together with the national affiliates of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and the pharmaceutical firm HRA Pharma which donated initial stocks of the dedicated EC pill, Norlevo. In this project, EC was introduced as a tool to prevent unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion and as a vehicle to support the use of regular contraception. The intervention strategy involved integrating advocacy, IEC, training, and service delivery. As the project ended in 2005, there was widespread recognition that the introduction of EC has been a success. Public acceptance of EC has been widespread; and health care providers, once trained, found EC pills easy to administer.
In 2005, ECafrique and E&P launched a new sub-regional initiative to synthesize and build upon the lessons of previous introductory trials conducted in four Francophone countries: Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Congo Brazzaville, and Ivory Coast. The overall goal of this project is to apply the experience of mainstreaming EC services elsewhere in Africa to secure a meaningful, sustainable expansion of EC in our four pilot countries. To achieve this goal, we are guided by the following five objectives:
- Understand the role of EC – actual and potential - within the overall service delivery system;
- Determine the need and feasibility of mainstreaming EC services at a national level;
- Identify relevant model(s) for mainstreaming EC;
- Expand ownership of the mainstreaming process to include a broad base of stakeholders;
- Formulate concrete proposals for donor support to implement mainstreaming action plans.
This initiative has seen the completion of a national strategic assessment on the need for EC in Senegal, the launch of training, IEC and advocacy efforts by the Senegalese Ministry of Health; and the formulation of concrete action plans for assessments and follow-on interventions in the three other countries. ECafrique is currently working with all four countries; assisting them in conducting strategic assessments and, where appropriate, helping them operationalize (through proposal development, funding, etc.) the recommendations that emerge from them.
Two new French language publications on EC in Senegal have been released by ECafrique and the Population Council.
- La Contraception D’urgence: Un aperçu de la question au Sénégal (February 2006) highlights the results of formative research into the possibilities of introducing EC into Senegal’s public sector. The 2005 study found that EC was largely unknown in the country, although both service providers and potential clients were receptive to the idea.
- Etude Diagnostique sur la Contraception d’Urgence (February 2006) outlines the results of a January 2006 assessment and strategy development exercise on improving the availability of EC in Senegal. Recommendations include increasing awareness of the method among both providers and the public as an essential first step in increasing access to EC.
Electronic copies of both publications are available from ecafrique@pcnairobi.org
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