CIAM Public Health Research and Development Centre, in collaboration with the UNFPA, recently convened a press briefing at its office in Kanifing.
According to CIAM officials, they will conduct a nationwide assessment on all health facilities in the country be it private or public to develop a Reproductive Health Commodity Security Survey Report 2013.
They said the UNFPA has tasked the institution to develop the Reproductive Health Commodity Security Report 2013.
In respect of this, they said, CIAM will be conducting a nationwide assessment on all health facilities both public and private and NGOs in the country to generate the required data for the development of the report.
In his statement, the director of CIAM, Mamadou K. Cham, told journalists that the UNFPA at the request of the Reproductive and Child Health Programme of the Ministry of Health supported the revision of the Reproductive Health Commodity Security (RHCS) strategic plan.
He said it was however realized that the RHCS situation report available is that of 2011. To adequately inform the revision of the RHCS Strategic plan, it was thought necessary to first update the situation report which was the subject of the press briefing.
He said that based on that fact, CIAM was tasked to produce the report, for the revision of the RHCS strategic plan.
He then said that in a global perspective, since the late 1960s, the international community has proclaimed a person’s right to family planning, that is the right to decide whether, when and how many times to have children, as well as to the means to exercise this human rights.
He said those means include access to reproductive health care, including contraceptives, information, supplies and services.
According to Mr Cham, the UNFPA launched the global programme to enhance reproductive health commodity security in 2007 to address the urgent and ongoing need for a reliable supply of contraceptives, condoms, medicines and equipment.
The Global Program is already yielding measurable results through a framework for assisting countries in planning for their own needs, with a focus on commodities as well as capacity development to strengthen health system.
He further told journalists that the UNFPA Global Program to enhance RHCS is a catalyst for national efforts to build stronger health system and procure essential supplies.
For his part, the coordinator of the RHCS Survey, Alieu Jammeh, thanked the media for responding positively to their invitation.
According to him, the press briefing was very paramount as it geared towards sensitizing the masses about the planned survey, recalling the conduct of a similar survey by the UNFPA in 2011.
Mr Jammeh added that currently 46 countries are engaged by the Global Program on the RHCS Survey for many years now.
Other speakers on the occasion were Momodou Njie, a member of the GFPA and one Alieu Sarr, who all thanked the media for attending the briefing.
