Targeting the semi urban and rural pockets, CycleTel Humsafar in association with Institute of Reproductive Health and with the support of USAID has launched an SMS based service to spread awareness about unplanned pregnancies among the people in Jharkhand.
The system is effective and safe as no medical advisory or birth control methods is required for it. After getting registered, the concerned people will receive an SMS every month to keep their record.
The method helps a woman to identify her fertile days. If the woman does not want to get pregnant, she and her partner avoid unprotected intercourse on specific days of her menstrual cycle.
With more than 2000 successful registrations for SMS alerts, the campaign is slowly gaining impetus in two selected districts of the State. In the first phase Ranchi and Dhanbad have been targeted for the purpose.
“It is based on the Standard Days Method (SDM), a scientifically proven method which identifies the set of days in each menstrual cycle when a woman can get pregnant. CycleTel Humsafar then alerts the woman about the increased possibility of pregnancy on those days. Studies conducted in different countries indicate that SDM is more than 95 per cent effective in helping women avoid pregnancy and has been approved by World Health Organisation (WHO),” said, Country Manager, Institute of Reproductive Health, Ramya Kancharla,
“The service can be availed for free of cost by dialing the toll free number 1800 1800 8000. The customer care service tests probable beneficiaries through three specific questions. The users get personalized messages based on SDM on their registered phone number. Interestingly, it involves men too and also alerts them about the unsafe days. The SMS service is available in Hindi, English and Hinglish,” added, Kancharla.
At present, the associated organizations with the project are not receiving any assistance from the State government. “We have approached the Jharkhand Government for the expansion of project, as our organization has worked with the ‘Sahiyas’ of the State in different training projects. At present, USAID is funding the project,” Kancharla said.
However, the State government have received similar proposal for this specific purpose from various companies working in health sector. “The State government is chalking out proposal and is also working to make available SMS based service in rural areas to help women to identify fertile days and avoid unwanted pregnancies,” said, Director Health Services, Dr. Praveen Chandra.
Furthermore, the campaign resource personnel have adopted unique method of advertisement. “In each selected cities, 25 medical outlets have been targeted. The organisation has distributed 5,000 envelopes with all information about CycleTel Humsafar. Whenever a customer purchases any medicine from these selected outlets, he/she will be given medicines in the envelope. The shopkeepers will be given certificate of appreciation acknowledging and thanking them for their participation in this initiative,” she added.