In Myanmar over 1.4 million women have an unmet need for family planning and contraceptives. To meet this need Marie Stopes has 30 centres around the country which provide a range of family planning services. Additionally, the program also focuses on an extensive outreach program which last year alone provided over 11,000 outreach sessions, reaching over 250,000 people. While Marie Stopes’ activities in post-cyclone Nargis affected areas have shifted from initial emergency responses to long-term sustainable services, many families are still living in areas that have very limited access to healthcare services. To address this, the team in Myanmar has expanded outreach activities and provided thousands of additional outreach services including sexual and reproductive health awareness and education sessions along with family planning services. Young people are also a focus of the program with the team operating seven ‘Kind Hands’ youth centres which offer friendly sexual and reproductive health information and services. Each year the Kind Hands centres see over 10,000 young people and the youth centres have become more than just a place to obtain services.
Current Projects
Her StorySay Nin is a mother who lives with her husband, two children and extended family in the Letpun Chaung village in Myanmar and works as a farmer. Say Nin was not aware of and had never received any form of healthcare service. At 24 years old, the Marie Stopes outreach program was her first experience of professional sexual and reproductive healthcare services. Say Nin wants to have more children, however she says, ‘I have two children, both were born in my home and the eldest child is only two years old - I want to wait before I have another child’. Through the Marie Stopes outreach service Say Nin accessed a 3-month contraceptive injection and says ‘because Marie Stopes comes to my village I know that I can have an IUD if I want to,’ which means that Say Nin can continue to plan her family into the future. |
