Source: AllAfrica
The 5th Eastern Africa Reproductive Health Network ((EARHN) summit held has condoned cultural beliefs in the region which have impeded the implementation of Family Planning initiatives on a wider scale.

The three day summit kicked off in Kigali Rwanda, this May 21, 2012 attracting over 50 health experts from Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Burundi and DRC to exchange information on how to strengthen family planning strategies.

Partners in Population and Development (PDD) says that two in three Africans currently have no access to reproductive health services and as a result, women in Sub-Saharan Africa have one out of sixteen chances of dying from complications of pregnancy during their lives.

Omar Muwonge, the District Chairperson of Mayuge District in Uganda revealed in his country, traditional culture recognizes polygamous families- which have made it hard to promote family planning methods like child spacing because nobody wants to be ridiculed.

Apparently Rwanda is arguably the only country in the region where polygamous marriages are highly discouraged by society though the government has also raised an alert on the increasing population and need to control child birth.

Statistics provided at the summit indicate that a woman in Uganda has an average number of 6.2 children, and although this number has fallen from 6.7 from the previous year, it is still the second highest in the region, after DRC which has 6.4 children per woman.

Rwanda has the third lowest in the region at 4.6 children per woman, after Zimbabwe and Namibia which have 4.1 and 3.6 children per woman respectively.

Anicet Nzabonimpa, the HIV Integration Coordinator in the Ministry of Health (MoH) said that 99% of women and 100 per cent of men in Rwanda know at least one modern method of contraception. The Ministry of Health and its partners have ensured that knowledge about family planning and condom use. 

• Rwanda