Montevideo, 20/10/2021- CLAP/PAHO/WHO- Two proposals from the Latin American Center for Pernatology, Women's and Reproductive Health (CLAP/WH) hosted in June of this year at PAHO's Virtual Public Health Campus have already reached more than 16,000 registrations each. One is the virtual and self-administered course on family planning, aimed at health care professionals at the first level of care, with over 17,000 enrollees from 70 countries. The other is the course on Immediate Contraception Post Obstetrical Event (ICPOE). Designed for doctors and midwives at hospitals that take care of women at the time of delivery or during abortion-related situations, this course was attended by more than 16,000 professionals from 42 countries.
The training course on ICPOE has a hybrid and innovative modality; after the virtual theoretical section in self-learning mode, the persons taking the course are offered a personalized tutoring with simulators and clinical practice that allow them to drill different scenarios with the various contraceptive methods proposed.
Karina Bello is one of the midwives from Peru that has taken both courses. She graduated 8 years ago, and for two and a half years she has worked at the Regional Hospital of Cuzco, Peru, where she provides care to about 10 women every morning. Karina feels very happy with the courses: “These trainings have given me a good update in very didactic and easy to understand classes; they will enable me to give better care,” she says, adding that she would recommend the courses to her colleagues.
That same perception is shared in Paraguay by Dr. Ana Fernández, a G&O practitioner at the General Hospital of Sana Rosa, in the Department of San Pedro, in the City of Santa Rosa del Aguaray. Ana, who sees from 30 to 35 women per day in her 12-hour days at the hospital, points out that one of the biggest appeals of the courses is the flexibility of their schedules and paces, something that allowed her to combine them with her work and personal life.
Family planning service providers form the foundation of the health systems' response to universal access to modern and effective contraception. Providing tools to these professionals is key to ensuring women and adolescents the right to sexual and reproductive health.
Link to Family Planning course, here
Link to ICPOE course, here
