Source: Daily Monitor
At least 4,000 women in Karamoja have been enrolled for family planning to help households improve their livelihoods. Officials from Maries Stopes, an NGO working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health on reproductive health issues in the sub-region, said the response is positive.

Dr Charles Nuwagaba, the medical officer implementing the reproductive health programme, said the 4,000 women have been enrolled in Moroto, Nakapiripirit, Amudat, Napak, Abim, Kotido and Kaabong districts since October 2011.

Dr Nuwagaba said 65 per cent of the enrolled women are taking long term methods of three to five years and 25 per cent are taking up short-term methods of three to four months while 10 per cent are going for the permanent method of birth control.

"When we began the programme, it was not easy to convince families to adopt family planning because they thought it is all about stopping people from producing. But when we educated them about the programme, many embraced it," he said.

Dr Nuwagaba said people in the region were insisting that they were used to their traditional way of family planning where by husbands would keep away from home once the woman gave birth and returned when the child has grown.

Ms Clementine Nangiro, a mother of seven, described the new method as a good move. She said: "We didn't have enough information about family planning but now it is better."

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