The INFO Project Blog

Kannada is spoken in Southern India’s Karnataka province, famously home to booming Bangalore, aka South Asia’s Silicone Valley. Bangalore appears to be booming, given its roaring new-economy growth of 8% per year, but the city’s “crumbling” infrastructure and poor surrounding regions are suffering. It’s no wonder, given the city and surrounding state’s rapid growth in population.

So, then, how do you say “Family Planning” in Kannada?

Actually, the translation work has been done–that is, job aids, checklists and guidance on methods from the Family Planning: A Global Handbook for Providers have already been translated into Kannada under the guidance of Chief Medical Officer Dr. K. Ravi Kumar (counseling clients above right).

INFO’s guidebook has been adapted into two-pagers for clients waiting in clinics, and also into easy-to-reference tools for providers to counsel clients about possible side effects that they might experience using various contraceptive methods.

Dr. Kumar recently told us that some 5000 providers statewide are using the adapted job tools, and hundreds of thousands of clients are viewing the method-specific briefs–for example, on the IUD–which are illustrated with labeled diagrams, while they wait to see a provider.

Non-permanent contraceptive methods are not widely used in India–according to the Department of Family and Community Health, 3 out of 4 users rely on sterilization. The public sector provides only five methods, excluding those perceived as controversial like injectables and implants. This is unfortunate, considering that a wide selection of contraceptive choices increases use, and more specifically because implant are highly effective, long-lasting methods. According to a recent INFO publication, implant systems are dropping in price and more widely available.

Click here to donate a handbook for providers in low-income countries, for $10.

Side note: Last time I posted with a question like this, someone responded with the answer. That was pretty cool. Now, let’s see if Wordpress can write Kannada characters.