KAMPALA– The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, Thomas Tayebwa wants the country to have more discussions about the use of contraceptives as a means of stopping unwanted pregnancies.
Tayebwa made the call on Monday while meeting a delegation of the All Party Parliamentary Group from the United Kingdom [UK].
The meeting was also attended by officials from Marie Stopes Uganda, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and members of the Parliament on forums of Food Security, Population, and Development.
The meeting centred on issues of family planning and sexual reproductive health and rights.
Tayebwa said poverty is the biggest driver of challenges related to reproductive health like early pregnancies adding that, ‘these are some of the things that the Parish Development Model [ PDM ] will address’.
He said that when Ugandans have money and can pay for school fees and take children to hospitals, it leads to improved reproductive health.
Tayebwa said that there is a need for intervention and dialogue, especially on interventions not in line with African customs and beliefs.
“On early childhood pregnancy, our concern is that more investment should be made in preventing it instead of handling a pregnancy. If your focus can be more on that, you will win more and more people,” he said.
Tayebwa said that it is also part of the government’s policy now that pregnant students should be allowed to sit for their final examinations.
Koboko Municipality MP and Chairperson of parliament’s Committee on Health, Dr. Charles Ayume said that Uganda is registering a tremendous contraceptive prevalence rate which is at 39 percent compared to 20 or30 years ago.
Ayume added that although it looks corrosive, it is important for Uganda to have a healthy and productive population.
“I was in the UK recently and I was impressed that they can do early screening of these challenges before the baby is born. I think this should be where we are going…where they can do surgical procedures intra-uterine, “he said.
The Leader of the UK Parliamentarians, Baroness Liz Sugg said that for both UK and Uganda to grow, women and girls need to be supported in their sexual reproductive health and rights.
In Uganda, there is an ongoing debate over the use of contraceptives.
For instance, the Catholic Church prohibits the use of contraceptives and Catholic leaders in Uganda have opposed the birth control campaign promoted by agencies that do not desire to see unplanned families.
“Gulu Archbishop John Baptist Odama in 2020 when asked by Media urged the faithful to do away with contraceptives.
“We will not accept such teachings. They are immoral, unacceptable and against the will of God,” he said. “The church only permits use of natural methods as birth control. No artificial use of contraception,” he said at the time when Uganda was experiencing a second Covid-19 lockdown.
On the other, Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Stephen Kazimba Mugalu openly supports the use of contraceptives. For instance, in a televised Sunday sermon about two years ago, Kazimba urged women to use contraceptives so that they don’t get pregnant during the lockdown.
“I am really concerned [that] after [this] coronavirus situation we will have many, many women who will be pregnant. Actually, we need to be careful. I want to call upon you women don’t forget to use your contraceptives because we don’t want [you] to have unwanted pregnancies,” Kazimba said.
“These guys are there; they are eating and doing things [having sex]. Be careful because these men they don’t care. You women [must] be careful.”
Uganda’s First Lady Janet Kataaha Museveni has also urged young girls to abstain from sex, urging that use of contraceptives including condoms, promotes sexual immorality but that it is also not 100 percent safe.
Women in Uganda have an average of five children, but just 30 percent of women use a modern form of contraception.
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