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This policy brief is on family planning; expanding access to family planning. Policy and programmatic actions highlighted are; Implement policy and targeted funding that prioritizes family planning for health, development, and equity. Engage community and key groups, in particular men and adolescents, with comprehensive communications strategies that identify and address the needs of the vulnerable… Read more
A third of adolescent girls in South Africa become pregnant before the age of 20, despite contraception being free and mostly accessible. This qualitative study was undertaken in Limpopo Province in 1997 on the barriers to adolescent girls accessing clinic services for contraception. Thirty-five in-depth interviews and five group discussions were conducted with girls aged… Read more
Data from the 1996 Tanzania Service Availability Survey are used to analyze the prevalence of medical barriers by type of provider, by type of facility and by urban-rural location. Relatively high proportions of providers restrict eligibility by age, particularly for oral contraceptives, the most widely used method among Tanzanian women. Between 79% and 81 %… Read more
Contraceptive prevalence has been central to family planning research over the past few decades, but researchers have given surprisingly little consideration to method mix, a proxy for method availability or choice. There is no ‘ideal’ method mix recognized by the international community; however, there may be reason for concern when one or two methods predominate… Read more
Over the last two decades, access to high-quality reproductive health services has become a center piece of the global movement for women’s empowerment. While progress has been made in research, programming, and policy, millions of women each year still experience unintended pregnancies, and millions more have unmet need for family planning. One of the persistent… Read more
The need for decisions on health policies, programmes and practice to be informed by evidence is indisputable. The current debates are around types and grades of evidence, techniques for knowledge appraisal, management and uptake, and on the varying needs of different decision making purposes and contexts. What is clear is that to inform decision-making the… Read more
During a qualitative evaluation of three peer-education programs in urban Mali, young people stated that they were wary of using either the pill or injectable contraceptives because they believed that these methods would make them sterile. Unmarried women’s contraceptive decision making was not primarily driven by a current need to limit fertility, but rather by… Read more
The evidence in the demographic and family planning literature of the range and diversity of the barriers to fertility regulation in many developing countries is reviewed in this article from a consumer perspective. Barriers are defined as the constraining factors standing between women and the realistic availability of the technologies and correct information they need… Read more
This document reviews the medical eligibility criteria for use of contraception, offering guidance on the safety of use of different methods for women and men with specific characteristics or known medical conditions. The recommendations are based on systematic reviews of available clinical and epidemiological research. It is a companion guideline to Selected practice recommendations for… Read more
Emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) are now available in many countries, but have failed to have the desired impact on unwanted pregnancy rates. Why is this? This is an editorial piece looks at myths and perceptions of emergency contraception in the world.
All human beings—regardless of age, sex, race or income—are equal in dignity and rights. Yet 222 million women in developing countries are unable to exercise the human right to voluntary family planning. This flagship report analyzes data and trends to understand who is denied access and why. It examines challenges in expanding access to family… Read more