The Ministry of Public Health has launched a new method of family planning known as “Calculateur 28”.

This method launched on 5thNovember 2014 is aimed at helping women and young girls know how to regulate their menstrual cycle in order to control birth and unwanted pregnancy.

This new method of birth control is timely says the Secretary General at the Ministry of Public Health who testified that the major cause of unwanted pregnancies and maternal mortality in Cameroon is the lack of knowledge on the natural birth control method.

According to official statistics, about 40% of Cameroonian women are not capable of determining their ovulation period.

According to a recent UN reports about 200 million women around the world do not understand what family planning is all about.

Worse still, about 1000 women die every day as a result of problems related to pregnancy.

“Calculateur 28” is a computer controlled measuring ruler through which a woman is updated on her date of menstruation and consequently the day of her Ovulation.

Initiators of the method explain that, with a text message costing 100 FRS CFA, any woman who wants to master her menstrual cycle could receive updated information through all the available mobile telephone services number 8198.

To proceed, the sender writes PERIOD, followed by the date of her last menstruation, and the duration.

The inquirer will be informed on the dates of the next menstruation and ovulation.

The initiative has been launched by a Cameroonian home based team in collaboration with Newtech Afrique Cameroon and NETYX Garbon.