Banja la Mtsogolo (BLM) is Friday expected to provide free family planning services in all its 30 clinics as part of commemorating World Population Day.
BLM has said it is concerned with the number of women who die every year due to complications related to pregnancy and child birth hence its gesture to provide free modern contraception education and services.
Policy and Advocacy Officer for Banja La Mtsogolo, Ovixlexla Bunya, said BLM is joining the global community in highlighting the need to increase access to modern sexual and reproductive health education and services in the country.
“One of the simplest and most effective means of saving women’s lives is contraception, but for more than 220 million women globally today, that is still not an option, because even though they want to protect themselves, they are unable to access modern contraceptives. For teenage girls, the risks are even higher,” she said.
Bunya said many teenage girls resort to unsafe abortions because they are unable to access modern contraceptive methods.
Not only are pregnant adolescents more likely than adults to resort to unsafe abortions, they are also more seriously affected by complications of unsafe abortion.
“Enabling women and teenage girls to access contraceptives helps prevent unwanted pregnancies, reduce unsafe abortion and limit needless maternal deaths,’’ Bunya said.
This year’s theme is Investing in Teenage Girls.”
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