Reintroducing the IUD

See Also:

Kenya initiative

In Kenya, FHI is working with the Ministry of Health to coordinate a strategy to reintroduce the Copper T intrauterine device (IUD). The effort was officially launched in February 2003 by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the private sector, professional organizations, national and international reproductive health organizations, and international donors. The latest research on the IUD and a discussion of the contraceptive method's reintroduction in Kenya is provided in several information briefs. A report (PDF, 168 KB) of the Kenya IUD initiative, with progress to-date, is available.

Collaborating with other organizations

Research to Practice coordinators and other FHI staff hosted a one-day working meeting in Washington, D.C., on November 4, 2003, entitled "Increasing Access to the IUD -- Part II." Organized in collaboration with USAID's Service Delivery Improvement and Research, Technology, and Utilization Divisions, this meeting was a follow-up to a related workshop held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in July 2003. 

Representatives from a range of research, advocacy, information, and service-delivery organizations spent the day discussing ways to overcome various obstacles to IUD use, such as inadequate training, misinformation, medical barriers, and procurement issues. As well, participants also discussed recent changes to the World Health Organization's medical eligibility criteria, which will improve IUD access for HIV-positive women, or women at risk of STIs, including HIV. The meeting also identified several joint programming opportunities that participating organizations could undertake in order to expand IUD access. For more information, please contact rtop@fhi.org.