Bulawayo shuns family planning - BCC

Bulawayo women are reported shunning family planning methods a development that is leading to unwanted pregnancies.

This has forced city council to engaged the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) and Population Services International to jointly conduct awareness campaigns.

According to acting director of health services, Dr Edwin Sibanda there is a low uptake of family planning.

"People do not feel the need for family planning so they tend to wait for the health worker to offer it rather than for them to initiate it, for instance how many of us when we are perfectly normal have stood up and gone to clinic to have a health check up.

"Our culture or our upbringing is such that wellness clinic is not an issue, in fact it is low down our budget we wait until there is a pain or an ache that is when we go to a health worker," said Dr Sibanda.

Dr Sibanda said family planning is only accessible only to those who have fallen pregnant and that has resulted in many unplanned pregnancies in the city, he is quoted saying.