adminZimbabwe National Family Planning Council has introduced Marvelon 28, a Combined Oral Contraceptive Family Planning Method, with support from the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA), and the organization is the official distributor of this Marvelon 28 pill.
Procurement of Marvelon 28 was due to the funding gap for procurement of the usual Control pill identified in the first quarter of 2014. Department for International Development (DFID) — the funding partner for the Control pill – was not able to procure the Control pill due to financial constraints. Then UNFPA supported the procurement of 6.8 Million Marvelon 28 cycles commensurate with national consumption to compliment the limited stocks of Control pill.The presumption was that Marvelon was going to be consumed at a scale that is equivalent to Control.
Distribution for Marvelon started in the second quarter of 2015, but was restricted to Harare and Bulawayo only. The reason for restricting the distribution of Marvelon to Harare and Bulawayo urban centers was specifically because it is easier to market a new product in urban areas as clients are easy to reach through various mass media channels and other advocacy initiatives. Rural areas were avoided as it would take longer to reach our clients in remote areas because of the limited geographical spread of our national mass media to mostly urban centers.
As stocks for the Control became critically low, distribution for Marvelon was extended to all urban centers of Zimbabwe in the 2015 fourth quarter and 2016 first quarter.
At present, the control pill is critically low at both Central and Regional Warehouses.
This prompted the need for distributing Marvelon to all Service Delivery Points in the second quarter of 2016 as there is no shipment of Control expected soon and as ZNFPC, we say no to unwanted pregnancies and we are guided by one of our values – universal access,therefore, contraceptives should be readily available to those who need them.
The Marvelon pill is not a substitute to the conventional control pill, but rather as an alternative to the control pill. Both Marvelon and the control pill work the same, and our clients should feel comfortable using the pill, it`s just like Lobels bread versus Proton bread. The only reason for the introduction of the Marvelon Pill in the market is due to the funding gap of our conventional control pill.
This insert is meant to sensitize both our service providers and clients that the Marvelon pill is not REPLACING and is not a SUBSTITUTE to the control pill, but was only introduced to cover the gap in the supply of the control pill.
For those who used Secure Pill, there are no changes.
Let`s have children by choice and not by chance, and at ZNFPC, we say Family Planning: Its Your Choice
For further information, do not hesitate to contact the Provincial Marketing & Communications Officer-MrD. Maromo on 020 62981/62923/0773 551 868, or the Provincial Manager -Mr D.Masvingise on 020 62439/0773 440 960 or visit us at Number 257-9, 5th Street, Mutare.
Online Reporter