Authors: Saleh Babazadeh, S Lea, Patrick Kayembe, Pierre Akilimali, Linnea Eitmann, Philip Anglewicz, & Jane Bertrand
Journal: Health Policy and Planning, 33(2). March 2018
This study uses data collected by Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (PMA2020) to track the supply of contraceptives in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between 2014 and 2016. PMA2020’s unique annual data collection model provides an opportunity to track trend data on family planning unavailable from any other source in DRC.
Of the more than 200 health service delivery points surveyed each year by PMA2020 (data was collected in 2014, 2015, and 2016), only two-thirds reported to offer family planning services. Of those reporting to offer family planning services, one-fifth or more did not do so on the day of the survey. The authors identified some key challenges to delivery of family planning services in DRC, including:
- As of 2016, only one-half of the service delivery points offering family planning services had at least three methods of contraception available, (which is a proxy for contraceptive choice); and only one in five had at least five methods.
- Long-acting reversible contraceptives, including implants and IUDs, were less widely offered and more often stocked out than other methods, including condoms, pills, and injectables.
- Contraceptive stockouts were rampant: in 2016, over a quarter of the service delivery points offering family planning services experienced stockouts of all methods (except condoms) in the previous three months, and two of the three most widely used methods – implants and injectables – were also the most likely to be stocked out.