Sexual & Reproductive Health

This programme promotes family planning among couples. The Family Planning Centre of the Society provides family planning services and reproductive health counseling. This service is utilized by an exclusive around 1000 continuing clients. The "Youth Kiosk" established in 2004 provides information and counseling on reproductive health with a specific focus on adolescent and youth.

Maldives experienced a population boom during 1970’s to 1980’s, created by fast declining mortality and continuing high fertility levels. The history of the population stagnation up to the middle of 20th century and high infant mortality, created a traditional mind set for supporting larger families. Even by early 1980s, the growth rate of the Maldivian population remained above 3 percent and the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) exceeded 6 children level.

Family planning was rightly placed at a higher level among the priorities of the organization during the early years of the Society and raising awareness on family planning was a key component of the health promotion activities of the Society. The issue was

addressed through print materials and public forums. Eventually with the support of United Population Fund (UNFPA) and the international Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), SHE established the first clinic on family planning in the Maldives with the designation Family Planning Clinic (FPC). And it still remains the only clinic in the Maldives providing family planning services outside the government structure.

FPC currently serves more than 1300 regular customers. Provision of services includes pills, condoms, injectables and IUD. Though the clinic targets to achieve service output of 600 CYPR (Couple Year Protection Rate), annually, it manages in achieving a CYPR of around 400.

FPC is being transformed into a centre providing ancillary services related to family planning and aims to eventually introduce most components of the reproductive health framework. Establishment of awareness raising service on youth, and for youth, under the banner of “Youth Kiosk” was a significant expansion of FPC. In Maldives, youth population exceeds 25 percent of the population and youth related issues confront serious challenges to development planning. Youth Kiosk provides special awareness raising sessions for youth visiting the premises of the organization, in general, and in particular those visiting for thalassaemia screening. These sessions provide pre-marriage counseling and information sharing on sexual health and responsible parenthood. Around 1000 youth seek the support of the kiosk, annually.

contributes to the birth of a thalassaemia major for every 120 births. Consequently even during the early 1990’s around 70 thalassaemia majors were likely to have been born in the Maldives, and  most of them would have passed away even without been diagnosed.

The prevalence of thalassaemia was known to the Maldives health professionals during the early 1970’s, but the significance of this problem continued to remain in obscurity until the early 1990s. Since thalassaemia majors require monthly blood transfusions and costly treatment to survive; only few even would have lived beyond their fifth birthday. Though few well-off families having a thalassaemia major could have