Family planning can make women, children healthier

First Lady Christine Kaseba has said family planning was the only way women and children can grow healthier and contribute positively to the economic development of the country.

Dr. Kaseba however said there was need for Zambia to seriously scale up all interventions on family planning in order to achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) on maternal health.

She noted that although the country has made strides in achieving access to primary education, reducing and stabilising new HIV infections among others, interventions on family planning have continued to be low.

The First Lady emphasised the need for serious collective interventions that will have a high impact on strategies aimed at ensuring that members of the public embrace all family planning methods.

Dr. Kaseba said empowering women with family planning will enable them space their children there by lightening the burden of excessive childbearing and significantly reducing on maternal and child deaths.

She said this when she officially launched the National Family Planning Campaign at Kalingalinga Basic School grounds in Lusaka today.

And Dr. Kaseba has observed that lack of information on family planning has led to a low contraceptive usage rate among women and girls in the country.

She said this has resulted into the high rate of unplanned pregnancies among women and girls who are the most vulnerable members of society.

Dr. Kaseba thanked all health cooperating partners for supplementing government’s efforts in addressing issues related to maternal and child health in the country.

Earlier, Minister of Community Development, Mother and Child Health Joseph Katema called on the public not to embrace dangerous myths that are generated by some sections of society on family planning.

Dr. Katema said government was committed to ensure all family planning methods do not endanger the lives of people but assist them to plan their families in a more sustainable manner.

He also called on the health workers to disseminate accurate and correct messages that will assist people in communities to adhere to different family planning methods.