Reproductive self-care piques media interest in Kenya

Reproductive self-care refers to the individuals’ ability to promote and maintain their sexual and reproductive health outside of the formal healthcare setting. In recent years, a wide range of innovative products, such as self-injectable contraception and emergency contraceptive pills, have created new opportunities for individuals to self-manage their family planning.

Our research in Kenya found out that even though various aspects of reproductive self-care are actively practised, the concept was not yet well-known in the country. To change that, our #FormNiGani youth platform created the #FormNiKujijali campaign to drive Kenyan-born dialogue and introduce the concept to public discussions.

“Self-care would put the young people in good stead to weather disruptive shocks without jeopardising their health and well-being by avoiding risks. This will contribute towards delivering the constitutional right to quality healthcare and improve health, human rights, and social outcomes”, writes Reproductive Health Network Kenya’s Executive Director Nelly Munyasia in The Standard.

The strategic engagement campaign applied an innovative approach to promoting reproductive self-care. The campaign consisted of an influencer-driven social media component, service provider collaboration, and news media outreach through strategically placed op-eds and broadcast features in Kenya’s leading media outlets.

Highlights of the media outreach include:

• Use pharmacies to boost reproductive health self-care – Opinion in Business Daily Africa by Janet Githinji, a medical doctor and social media influencer
• Grabbing the opportunity for reproductive health self-care – Opinion in Capital News and The Standard by the Reproductive Health Network Kenya’s Executive Director, Nelly Munyasia
• Why reproductive healthcare for youth is crucial – Opinion in Nation Kenya by an obstetrician and gynaecologist, Dr Nelly Bosire
• Self-care critical to expanding access to sexual and reproductive health services (behind a paywall) – Opinion in The Star by Dr Alex Awiti, the Vice-Provost of the Aga Khan University

In addition to newspaper appearances, we got our reproductive self-care message through to broadcast media:

• Importance of reproductive healthcare among the youth – NTV Kenya news segment
• Health Tuesday: Sexual & Reproductive Health – Interview with sexual and reproductive health activist Rachel Mwikali on KBC Channel 1’s Good Morning Kenya TV show 
• How to build sexual confidence –  TMI Podcast, episode 15
• African Culture Derailing Usage – Switch TV news segment

Response to #FormNiKujijali’s media outreach was favourable across the Kenyan media landscape. In six weeks, the campaign reached 7,8 million people in print media, 8,2 million in online media, and 6,6 million in broadcast media, inserting reproductive self-care into national conversations about family planning.

Read more about the #FormNIKujijali campaign on the #FormNiGani movement’s website, as well as on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.