The daring advocates

Mauritius Family Planning & Welfare Association (MFPWA) was formed in 1957, by a group of family planning advocates.

As Mauritius was struggling to come up with a viable system to address population issues, these advocates were busy providing services to women.

In order to advocate and deliver their services more effectively, the advocates formed the Mauritius Family Planning and Welfare Association (MFPWA).

Since then, MFPWA has provided a wide range of sexual and reproductive heath (SRH) services in its clinics and drop in centre in Port Louis.

Sexually abused children, geriatrics, marginalized populations on Rodrigues Island; young people, women and men benefit from services that include:

• family planning
• prevention and management of HIV/AIDS through voluntary counseling and testing (VCT)
• support of people living with HIV/AIDS
• infertility management
• antenatal and post-natal care
• post-abortion care
•  diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections
• screening for cancers of the reproductive systems.

Using peer educators, MFPWA also runs an outreach programme targeting hotels, Export Processing Zones, popular tourist hot spots and communities.

We also run a daycare centre, which is receiving support from the private sector.

Due to the increased demand for our services, we have decided to set-up two more clinics - a geriatric clinic to cater for the needs of the elderly and a Diabetic and Sexual Health clinic to address issues such as sexual dysfunction.

MFPWA’s success is reflected in our client base. In 2006 we served 284,094 clients.

We also receive government moral and financial support every year.

Besides playing a critical role in the integration of family life education in the national school curriculum and in the passage of the HIV/AIDS Bill in parliament, our statistics are incorporated in the Demographic Year Book published by the Ministry of Health.

One of the main challenges is that less than half of Mauritian women use modern contraceptives.

Service delivery points
1 branch and 2 clinics