INSTITUTE FOR REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH (IRH): 2009 News
The latest issue of the USAID/India newsletter highlights the commitment of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to scale up the SDM in the state of Jharkhand in India.* The Government of Jharkhand committed US$211,000 towards capacity building for the SDM and has agreed to include the SDM/CycleBeads in the basket of contraceptive choices available in the state family planning programs.
USAID/Ethiopia's Family Planning Success Story discusses how the SDM, a natural family planning method, is changing the lives of hundreds of Ethiopian women. When offering the SDM, community-based reproductive health agents teach women to be aware of the fertile days in their menstrual cycle and to use protection or abstain from sex during those days to prevent pregnancy. Women of varying literacy levels can easily use the method, which when used correctly is more than 95% effective.
The CORE Group also recently published results of the introduction of the SDM in Albania. Under the Albania Child Survival Program, the SDM was incorporated into the family planning method mix offered in health centers and became the second-most popular method (after the pill). Women who chose the SDM overwhelmingly did so because they felt that it had no adverse effect on their health.
The Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University (IRH) has over 20 years experience developing simple and effective fertility awareness methods (FAM), teaching women and men about their fertility, training providers in these methods and partnering with programs to expand family planning options worldwide.