In its Take Stock campaign, HEPS works to improve availability of contraceptives in local health facilities. Contraceptives are currently used by a relatively small number of people in Uganda, and family planning methods are generally less adopted if compared to for example countries in Latin America and Asia (source: WorldBank, CPC). One reason for that is simply that contraceptives are not available at the local level: people who go out to get them find empty shelves where there should be supplies. Stock-outs of products and medication are a wider phenomena in health facilities or warehouses throughout the country, which HEPS Uganda, together with the The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition, tries to address.
Trac FM enables HEPS Uganda to interact directly with even more of the most important people in this story: the women and men themselves who want to have a full, free, and informed choice when it comes to family planning. The Trac FM platform will be used to feature live interactive SMS polls during radio shows that address the issue.
Together with Trac FM, HEPS Uganda
has trained over 30 radio presenters and working with them to address
contraceptive use in radio shows. By gathering the reactions of the audience,
through the Trac FM platform, radio shows can become even more lively and
informed by the voices of the listeners. Meanwhile, Trac FM’s smart
visualisation of the data will allow HEPS Uganda to evaluate the impact of the
project.
This way Trac FM’s platform is doing what it does best: supporting citizens and civil society by holding policy makers and other relevant actors accountable - in this case local health service delivery. Listeners can directly make themselves be heard about the availability of contraceptives and their use in the community.
To ensure a
clear flow of information, Trac FM provides visualisation dashboards that show
live results - while the poll is ongoing and through the use of location
mapping these results can be traced back to a particular area Furthermore the end-results are presented in
visual infographics that can can inform the audience, stakeholders, and local
and national decision-makers.
Also see: Take Stock Campaign: HEPS concludes journalist’s training
