Marie Stopes Mali

With an estimated 368 deaths per 100,000 births, Mali has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.

The country also has one of the world’s highest demographic growth rates, so an increase in contraceptive prevalence is crucial. In 2012 only 10% of women were using modern contraceptive methods, and there continues to be high disparities between contraceptive access in rural and urban areas.

Marie Stopes Mali began clinical operations in 2008, and has since achieved significant increases in contraceptive services through its dedicated work to reach the under-served.

Reaching young people

Throughout the country there is an unmet need for family planning services with a significant percentage of them being adolescent and young women.

Data from 2012 shows that a majority of adolescent girls in Mali are married and a third of them will have delivered their first child by their 20^th birthday. Despite a higher risk of unplanned pregnancies among youth, they are the group most critically under-served in accessing accurate information about contraception and family planning services.

Designing programmes that specifically meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescent girls and young women is pivotal to reduce the risk of unplanned pregnancies and to increase contraceptive prevalence rates.

Our programme in Mali serves a large number of young clients. Nationally, just over 30% of modern contraceptive users in Mali are under 25. Yet in 2016, 68% of our clients were under this age, demonstrating the team’s ability to reach this critical group.

How we deliver services in Mali

Our Mali programme consists of three centres, six mobile outreach teams providing services in mainly rural areas, and a large network of over 140 social franchises across the country providing a complete range of reproductive health services.

Our full range of sexual and reproductive health services includes:

• A range of short-acting, long-acting, permanent and emergency contraception.
• Family planning counselling.
• Pre and post-natal care.
• STI diagnosis and treatment.
• Pregnancy testing and ultrasound.
• Voluntary HIV counselling and testing.