{"id":5029,"date":"2020-06-18T04:00:38","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T04:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kmtraining.org\/engaging-drug-shops-critical-to-increasing-family-planning-access\/"},"modified":"2020-06-18T04:00:38","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T04:00:38","slug":"engaging-drug-shops-critical-to-increasing-family-planning-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmtraining.org\/fr\/engaging-drug-shops-critical-to-increasing-family-planning-access\/","title":{"rendered":"Engaging Drug Shops: Critical to Increasing Family Planning Access"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Small commercial drug shops have long been recognized as the first line of health care in low- and middle-income countries<\/a>, especially in rural areas with few private or public clinics. Drug shops often provide a variety of health services, products, and information, which sometimes go beyond the strictures of local laws and regulations<\/a>. These services range from the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as malaria and sexually transmitted infections and ailments such as pneumonia, diarrhea, or respiratory infections to preventive care including family planning.<\/p>\n

\"Small

Small commercial drug shops are often the first line of health care in low- and middle-income countries, especially in rural areas. Photo: FHI 360.<\/p><\/div>\n

Why are Drug Shops Important for Family Planning?<\/h3>\n

Drug shops provide an important opportunity to expand access<\/a> to family planning, for women and harder-to-reach groups through convenience, anonymity, and cost savings. Drug shops as providers of methods, both sanctioned and unsanctioned, are largely missing from countries\u2019 family planning strategies, policies, regulation, and monitoring. Most decision-makers have been slow to adapt policies and programs despite numerous studies demonstrating the feasibility<\/a> of training drug shop operators to deliver various long-term methods. Instead, they are often viewed as mere merchants of limited short-term methods, which ignores their capacity for increasing uptake of family planning services and methods in a systematic and collaborative way with the public sector, social marketing groups, and product distributors.<\/p>\n

What Do We Know?<\/h3>\n

Many studies have examined contraceptive use patterns, market trends, and the role of the private sector in improving access. The positive implications for women, providers, and communities are clear. For instance in Uganda, the scale-up of providing depot medroxyprogesterone acetate subcutaneous (DMPA-SC) through drug shops led to increased access and uptake. FHI 360, in collaboration with the Uganda Ministry of Public Health and Population and PATH Uganda, carried out a Catalytic Opportunity Fund project August 2019 to January 2020.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\"Although

Although drug shop operators are often considered mere merchants of limited short-term family planning methods, numerous studies have shown the feasibility in training them to deliver long-term methods, thereby increasing family planning uptake. Photo: FHI 360.<\/p><\/div>\n

What Are the Benefits of Engaging Drug Shops?<\/h3>\n