Family planning is not being selfish as some people say

Recently while chatting with some residents of Muhima Sector, Nyarugenge District, on family planning one said: “Family planning is an agenda planned by western countries to make Africans become selfish.” John Ntayomba, a father of six, added that before the inception of family planning in African countries, women would produce as many children as they wished to strengthen lineage and promote the culture of sharing amongst the particular families. And this statement revealed how some people in this country are still ignorant about the essence of family planning. Some are still clinging on traditional belief relying on what our great grand parents believed in. Many ignore the fact that if properly embraced; family planning can bring about a great deal of improvement in the quality of life of the population. A quality population is one that is educated, healthy, and skilled and is engaged in activities that generate wealth. Rwanda’s population is expected to double in the next twenty years unless the fertility rate is controlled. However, a demographic health survey reveals that the average fertility rate has dropped to at 2.6 children per woman from 6.1 children in 2005. But according to a report by Population Reference Bureau (PRB), a Washington, DC-based non-profit group, if the annual population growth rate persists, the country’s population is projected to reach 14.6 million by 2025. “Personal capacity has to conform to the country’s economic situation,” Minister for Health, Richard Sezibera said at a press conference on family planning in 2009.Sezibera nevertheless added that personal capacity couldn’t override the economy situation of the country. “One cannot give birth to 10 children just because he has the means to provide for them with the requirements since those children will use the country’s infrastructure which is reliant on the country’s resources,” he advised. The average number of children per family in Rwanda is five. Despite the efforts by the government to combat rapid population growth through devising policies such as the three children per family policy as well as the use of modern family planning methods such as contraceptives, the message is yet to hit home. In spite of the hurdles ahead, substantial gains have so far been registered. According to Dr. Fidele Ngabo, the Director of Mother and Child Health in the Ministry of Health, people are accepting family planning initiative positively, basing on the rise in use of contraceptives over the last few years.In 2005, only 10 percent used contraceptives. This increased to 27 percent in 2007. Louise Uwizeye, a mother of four, living in Nyarugenege District is one of the people who have begun seeing the importance of practicing family planning in development. “Whenever I go to a health centre or hospital I have been sensitised on the importance of using contraceptives and after trying it out, I think it is important because if it was not for them, I would now have over eight children,” she said, adding that even the four she has are causing stress for her and her husband. Uwizeye and her husband, Didier Nzabamwita are casual labourers. Family planning is a recommended practice worldwide. The Ministry of Health points out that the ignorance of family planning is mostly in rural areas but that the Ministry was going to put more sensitisation efforts to attain the goal of 70 percent use by 2012. The medical fraternity maintains that the population growth has to be 0 percent, meaning that the number of deaths has to be equivalent to the number of births. On the other hand more effort is required of the government to sensitize the population both in rural and urban areas on the need to practice family planning. For example the introduction of comprehensive sex education in schools could be of importance in ensuring that the family planning aspect is understood early.The religious sector also has a big and important role to play in Family Planning. However, there has been no serious effort on their part to increase the family planning awareness among their congregations as some religious groups don’t buy the idea. The reluctance by some of the religious groups to educate their followers on the importance of family planning looks to be a derailment in the government’s efforts to promote family planning amongst Rwandans so that people like Ntayomba get the real meaning of the development. fredndoli@gmail.com