Population Council Projects | Mainstreaming Emergency Contraception into Ethiopia’s Public-sector Services

PROJECT
Mainstreaming Emergency Contraception into Ethiopia’s Public-sector Services

This project focuses on providing emergency contraception (EC) in 36 public-sector facilities and key NGO facilities, training providers and creating awareness among the population as a whole. Activities are undertaken in conjunction with the Ethiopian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ESOG), with support leveraged from the Concept Foundation.

At the outset of the project, 40,000 units of the dedicated EC product Postinor 2 were donated by the manufacturer (Gedeon Richter). An application to register Postinor 2 with Ethiopia's Drug Control and Regulatory Authority was submitted at the same time, and was formally approved in late 2006. This approval enables both private- and public-sector distribution of the product.

To facilitate in-service provider training, an Ethiopia-specific EC training manual was adapted from a curriculum prepared by Council researchers in Bangladesh. Over 100 service providers from the 36 selected facilities have been trained under this one-and-a-half-day course. This manual will also be available in Amharic, to enable onsite instruction.

A CD-ROM resource library was produced for use in the project. Developed specifically for students and professionals in Ethiopia with limited Internet access, this CD contains full-text versions of Ethiopia-specific information. The CD has now been adapted for use in low-resource settings across Africa.

To support pre-service training efforts, ECafrique awarded $5,500 in small grants for ten postgraduate student research projects on EC. Many proposals specifically cited the resource CD, distributed to participating universities, as informing their thinking on EC. These grants were intended to spark the interest of new medical, nursing, and community health students, as well as increase the basic body of knowledge on EC in Ethiopia.

Recognizing that EC provision was hampered by low public awareness, over the last year of the project ESOG engaged in intensive advocacy efforts to increase demand for EC. A full-time consultant was retained to design and implement a national media campaign, which included television and radio commercials, participation in a 60-minute radio show on EC, and articles on EC and other reproductive health issues in the country’s leading newsweekly.

This two-year activity concluded in December 2006. ECafrique is actively assisting ESOG in designing and implementing its final evaluation activities.

Location

Regions in Ethiopia: Addis Ababa; Amhara; Oromia; Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region; Tigray

Duration

2004–2006

Population Council researchers

John Skibiak, Jill Keesbury

Non-Council collaborators

Hailegiorgis Aytenfisu (ESOG)

Tekle-Ab Mekbib (consultant)

Ministry of Health

Donors

Compton Foundation

Concept Foundation

Publications/Resources
Council researchers' names appear in boldface type.

2006
Rumbold, Tori. "Expanding adolescent contraceptive choice in Ethiopia," presentation at Second African Conference on Sexual Health and Rights, Nairobi, 20 June.

2005
"Resource library on emergency contraception," CD-ROM. Nairobi: ECafrique. (offsite link for more information)

2004
"Emergency contraception: A training curriculum for mid-level health workers in Ethiopia." Addis Ababa: Ethiopian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Ministry of Health, ECafrique. (offsite PDF)