(June 17, 2016, Kigoma, Tanzania and New York, USA) – On the eve of Father’s Day, Vital Strategies and World Lung Foundation Tanzania (WLF)* today announced that the Jitofautishe (“Be Different”) campaign has encouraged current and potential fathers in the Kigoma region to become more actively engaged in and responsible for family planning. A post-campaign survey found that 93 percent of men agree that there are benefits to family planning and there was a 59 percent increase in the number of men saying they use contraception.
The percentage of men in urban areas who use contraception doubled, from 28 percent before the campaign aired, to 56 percent afterwards. Contraceptive use also increased among men in rural areas, from 30 percent to 45 per cent, and among urban women, from 21 percent to 34 percent. However, contraceptive use among women in rural areas decreased slightly from 28 percent to 26 percent, suggesting that more needs to be done to reach women in rural areas.
“It is critical that men are actively engaged in family planning and this campaign suggests they are particularly responsive to the economic benefits of planning, spacing and limiting pregnancies, as well as recognizing the health benefits for their wives and children,” said Dr. Nguke Mwakatundu, Country Director, Tanzania and Director of Vital Strategies’ Maternal Health Program. “We are particularly encouraged that more men reported using contraception after the Jitofautishe campaign aired and delighted that data from health facilities in the region confirms our survey results. By actively discussing, supporting and using family planning, men in the Kigoma region could radically improve the life opportunities of current and future generations. This is a father’s as well as a mother’s concern – and indeed the responsibility of all.”
The campaign, Jitofautishe (“Be Different”), was aimed at men and women of childbearing age and featured radio ads, a radio drama, audio-visual documentaries, a comic book for youth, posters, brochures, billboards, and stickers. This campaign, developed and implemented by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and WLF under the Thamini Uhai (Value Life) brand, aimed to de-mystify and promote the benefits of using family planning to plan, space and limit pregnancies. Key messages included: family planning methods are safe, effective and easy to use; there are various contraceptive options; and there are benefits to be gained from spacing or limiting pregnancies, such as increased education and employment opportunities for women, better health for mothers and children, more effective use of family resources, and stronger communities.
Family planning is a key strategy to promote social and economic development and to improve the health of women and children in Tanzania. It is conducive to the government’s stated goal of reducing Tanzania’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and its commitments under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
*Note: After merging with The Union North America, World Lung Foundation commenced a global rebranding program, changing its name to Vital Strategies. To date, the Tanzania Maternal Health Program has continued to use the World Lung Foundation brand.
About the World Lung Foundation Tanzania Maternal Health Program
Since 2008, World Lung Foundation (WLF) has been working to help reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in Tanzania by implementing a state-of-the-art maternal health program. The program, which has received financial support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Fondation H&B Agerup, Merck for Mothers and Svenska Postkod Stiftelsen, aims to improve women’s access to good-quality, comprehensive emergency obstetric care, particularly in rural and isolated areas. WLF can point to a number of accomplishments across geographically strategic health centers and hospitals in eight districts in the Kigoma, Morogoro, Nguruka, and Pwani regions. Since 2008:
- WLF has actively upgraded, renovated or rebuilt 15 rural health centers and district hospitals, and supports a further five facilities, to ensure the provision of life-saving comprehensive emergency obstetric care. Prior to the program, patients had to travel three to four hours to the nearest hospital. Now, emergency obstetric care is available in the community.
- WLF also supports 18 dispensaries in high catchment areas, to improve access to high quality skilled birth attendance and Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC) services.
- More than 100 assistant medical officers, nurse-midwives, and clinical officers have been trained in comprehensive emergency obstetric care or anesthesia.
- Health center utilization for delivery care has increased substantially, from about 21,661 deliveries in the program-supported facilities in 2011, to 26,189 deliveries in 2015.
- The program has also supported innovative cross-channel communication and community campaigns to increase the use of health facilities and family planning.
More information about the Maternal Health Program can be found at https://www.vitalstrategies.org/maternalhealth
About Vital Strategies
Vital Strategies envisions a world where every person is protected by a strong public health system. Our team combines evidence-based strategies with innovation to help develop sound public health policies, manage programs efficiently, strengthen data systems, conduct research, and design strategic communication campaigns for policy and behavior change. Vital Strategies was formed when The Union North America and World Lung Foundation joined forces. It is an affiliate of The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).
For more information, please visit vitalstrategies.org or Twitter @VitalStrat
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Tracey Johnston, Vital Strategies, at +44.7889.081.170 or tjohnston@vitalstrategies.org