Kenya has received 450,000 doses of self-injectable contraceptives in a bid to simplify and enhance the accessibility of family planning among sexually active women.

 The Depot MedroxyprogesteroneAcetate (DMPA-SC) contraceptives were procured by UNFPA with more than Ksh.57 million (£348,000) funding from the UK Government, and will be distributed by the Ministry of Health to health facilities across the country.

The contraceptive is a user-friendly injectable that can be administered by trained individuals, including community health workers and women themselves, thus increasing access to family planning beyond traditional healthcare settings. 

“The integration of DMPA-SC self-injection into Kenya's reproductive health landscape is part of broader reproductive health self-care initiatives aimed at improving service delivery. These will support the Government’s efforts to increase access to family planning in line with global trends toward self-care interventions,” Director General of Health Dr. Patrick Amoth said.

According to the 2022 Kenya Demographic Health Survey, 66% of currently married women and 89% of sexually active unmarried women have a demand for family planning. 

Kenya has made significant progress in promoting access to family planning, with the modern contraceptive prevalence rate rising to 57% in 2022, up from 53% in 2014. During the same period, the unmet need for family planning was reduced from 18% to 14%. 

Despite this progress, barriers such as the high financial cost of access and uncertainty over supply hinder efforts to meet the demand for family planning. 

According to Deputy Development Director at the British High Commission, Eduarda Mendonca-Gray, sexual and reproductive health and rights is a key priority for the UK.  

 “Since 2010 we have been supporting family planning efforts in Kenya and we remain committed to working collaboratively. We will continue working with the Health Ministry to empower women to plan for their lives and future, and to decide when to have children by choice not by chance,” she said. 

The consignment of DMPA-SC contraceptives will be distributed to health facilities through KEMSA. The contraceptives are expected to benefit over 400,000 women of reproductive age across the country. 

According to the World Health Organization, use of modern contraceptives in 2017 prevented an estimated 308 million unintended pregnancies. Meeting people’s need for modern methods of contraception would avert an additional 67 million unintended pregnancies, annually.