Podcast: Free contraceptives in Mauritania: reality or utopia?
We are at the community health centre run by the AGD of the Association of Managers for Development (AGD) in Nouakchott, Mauritania. The centre, which opened in 2017, is located in the municipality of Sebkha. Habi Sow provides contraceptive consultations.
Mauritania is a country with a population of over 4 million, of whom 51.6 per cent are women. Family planning, also known as birth spacing in this country, is supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which is currently the sole technical and financial partner (TFP) for the procurement of contraceptives.
‘In the past, it was difficult to get hold of contraceptives because of the exorbitant cost,’ recalls
Free contraceptives – is this a reality or a pipe dream? We put the question to key players in the sector.
The insertion of complex devices such as implants and the like requires consumables, hence the flat-rate payment to the public health centre in the 5th district of Sebkha. Midwife Sira explains:
At the AGD health centre, 160 family planning consultations are scheduled for December 2023; patients can access contraception services, including the procedure itself, free of charge.
A free alternative that could improve access to the procedure, thereby helping to improve patients’ access to a wider range of contraceptive options. In Mauritania, the unmet need for family planning stands at 31.5 per cent, the modern contraceptive prevalence rate at 12.8 per cent, and the overall contraceptive prevalence rate at 14 per cent, according to the 2022 UNFPA report on Mauritania.
