First Lady unveiled as Fpam Patron
The Family Planning Association of Malawi (Fpam) has a new Patron in the First Lady, Gertrude Mutharika, who was unveiled on Friday in Lilongwe.
Fpam is one of the institutions that are providing sexual and reproductive health services with an aim to control population growth and treat people with sexually transmitted infections.
“We believe you will find the task more exciting as we work together to serve the people of Malawi, especially young people and those in the rural areas who struggle to access reproductive health services,” Fpam’s Board Chairperson Lilian Ng’oma said at the unveiling ceremony.
The Fir s t Lady in her acceptance speech said she will serve the organisation to advance the agenda of Fpam.
“I have seen that Fpam is doing a commendable job in providing sexual reproductive health services to the people of Malawi and, as l accept this role of a patron, l will do everything in my capacity to help Fpam advance this agenda,” said Mutharika.
Fpam has about seven outlets that provide services in some of the districts with plans to expand the footprint to other districts as it strives to reach out to more Malawians.
According to Ng’oma, the services provided by her organisation have helped to reach out to the youths who constitute the largest section of the population as the services are designed to be youth friendly, hence enhancing the impact.
The country’s population is now about 16 million but with a growth rate of 2.5 percent per year, there are fears that such rapid growth is outweighing efforts of poverty reduction and economic growth since most of the citizens are poor with insignificant economic contribution but a burden in need of subsidised or free services.
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