Rwanda– Overview of Country Activities:
The introduction of the Standard Days Method
(SDM) in 13 pilot sites in 2002 resulted in such
high levels of interest from providers and the
community that the SDM was expanded to 28 sites
nationwide in 2004. Sites include public, NGO
and faith-based services, and each site has trained
providers and community health workers (who refer
but do not provide the method). As part of the
Institute’s Impact Study, the SDM is being
integrated into 40 additional sites: 20 in Province
du Nord (formerly Byumba province) and 20 in Province
de l’Est (formerly Kibungo province). As
of October 2005, Rwanda had over 3,000 SDM users,
over 90% of whom are first-time family planning
users. The method has been included in on-going
comprehensive contraceptive technology updates
for service providers in Byumba and Kibungo using
the official Government of Rwanda curriculum for
in-service family planning training. In addition,
the SDM is included in the Government’s
Management Information Systems and in the 2005
DHS. Discussions are underway with the Ministry
of Health (MOH) and INTRAHealth to make the SDM
available nationwide via the new Health and Decentralization
Project, Twukabane.
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Country Updates
The Institute for Reproductive Health recently
completed the second round of simulated client
research in both its intervention (Byumba) and
control (Kibungo/Kirehe) sites. Preliminary analysis
indicates that the experimental group presented
significantly better quality of care than the
control group, and that the quality of service
in Byumba improved between the two rounds of data
collection. Prior to the first round of simulated
client data collection, the Institute conducted
contraceptive technology updates in both areas,
in partnership with IntraHealth and the MOH; these
were followed by training on the SDM in Byumba.
Meanwhile, time series data from the family planning
registers is being collected in both areas on
a monthly basis. A final round of simulated client
data collection will take place in July/August
2006, one year after round two. A community KAP
survey will be done approximately two months following
the final round of simulated client data collection.
The Institute will also intensify collaboration
with IntraHealth’s Twubakane project to
build capacity within this new project and its
governmental and non-governmental partners to
introduce the SDM into additional sites throughout
Rwanda. This will include providing technical
assistance to create SDM workplans, training of
trainers, and monitoring and evaluation. At the
request of the MOH and USAID/Rwanda, Twubakane
has already requested a quote from the manufacturer
for a purchase of almost 20,000 sets of CycleBeads
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