An illustration of family planning. (Courtesy).

An official at the Ministry of Health has encouraged South Sudanese men to embrace family planning to enable them to make informed reproductive health decisions.

According to the World Health Organization, the use of contraception ensures child spacing and prevents pregnancy-related health risks for women, especially for adolescent girls.

The UN health agency also says children born within 2 years of an elder sibling have a 60 percent risk of infant death, while the mortality risk for those born within 2–3 years is 10 percent.

Biniana Sabino, Family Planning Inspector at the Ministry of Health says, the engaging South Sudanese men on family planning enables them to make preferable choices on their preferable methods.

Sabino said the sensitization of men in the provision of Sexual Reproductive Health services helps in improving counselling and enhances behavioral change.

“It is important for men to engage them in the family planning to share accurate information about the benefits of family planning with men,” she said during a live discussion on Eye Radio’s Sundown Show.

“Also, the men can take informed choice to support the women in the choice of family planning method that they want to use.”

On her part, Lois Juan Mila, a social worker in Juba says some men are not giving chances to their wives in spacing the children.

Ms. Juan said this brings about reproductive health challenges to the women.

“This family planning is good for every woman to maintain the spacing other children. There are men who practices child spacing but the men today could not allow their wives to rest and ensure child spacing.”

“Their wives conceive quickly and might end up losing children, sometimes encounter miscarriage and other sometimes die in the process of giving birth.”

“I am encouraging my community to adopt family planning. They should not do it in clinics but at the hospitals.”

According to the United Nations Population Fund – UNFPA, access to safe, and voluntary family planning is a human right and it is central to gender equality, women’s empowerment, and reducing poverty.

It says lack of access to family planning leads to unwanted pregnancies and abortions and threatens families’ ability to build a better future for themselves and their communities.

Family Planning is also proven to offer a range of potential benefits – from expanded education opportunities and empowerment for women, to sustainable population growth and economic development for countries.

South Sudan has the highest maternal mortality ratio in the world, and women and adolescents are most in of need special attention and effective services with respect to sexual and reproductive health, according to Health Pooled Fund.