scholarly journals Scaling up family planning in Sierra Leone: A prospective cost–benefit analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Keen ◽  
Hashina Begum ◽  
Howard S Friedman ◽  
Chris D James

Family planning is commonly regarded as a highly cost-effective health intervention with wider social and economic benefits. Yet use of family planning services in Sierra Leone is currently low and 25.0% of married women have an unmet need for contraception. This study aims to estimate the costs and benefits of scaling up family planning in Sierra Leone. Using the OneHealth Tool, two scenarios of scaling up family planning coverage to currently married women in Sierra Leone over 2013–2035 were assessed and compared to a ‘no-change’ counterfactual. Our costing included direct costs of drugs, supplies and personnel time, programme costs and a share of health facility overhead costs. To monetise the benefits, we projected the cost savings of the government providing five essential social services – primary education, child immunisation, malaria prevention, maternal health services and improved drinking water – in the scale-up scenarios compared to the counterfactual. The total population, estimated at 6.1 million in 2013, is projected to reach 8.3 million by 2035 in the high scenario compared to a counterfactual of 9.6 million. We estimate that by 2035, there will be 1400 fewer maternal deaths and 700 fewer infant deaths in the high scenario compared to the counterfactual. Our modelling suggests that total costs of the family planning programme in Sierra Leone will increase from US$4.2 million in 2013 to US$10.6 million a year by 2035 in the high scenario. For every dollar spent on family planning, Sierra Leone is estimated to save US$2.10 in expenditure on the five selected social sector services over the period. There is a strong investment case for scaling up family planning services in Sierra Leone. The ambitious scale-up scenarios have historical precedent in other sub-Saharan African countries, but the extent to which they will be achieved depends on a commitment from both the government and donors to strengthening Sierra Leone’s health system post-Ebola.

Author(s):  
Albet Maydiantoro ◽  
Moh. Nizar

The problem of unmet need indicates a gap between the purpose of female reproduction and their perceptual behavior. This means that in one hand, women have a desire to avoid pregnancy; on the other hand, they do not take precautionary measures. Therefore, decrease on the percentage of the unmet need results on the significant number of contraception prevalence. Conversely, the high unmet need will be a problem for the government, not only causing the rapid increase in population but also affecting the high AKI (Maternal Mortality Rate).This research employed a descriptive method, describing the cause of Unfulfilled Pair Age (PUS) in the needs of family planning services in Eastern Lampung regency. As a consequence, all problems or causes of unmet need can be addressed by analyzing the data. For this study, research population has several criteria: first, mothers or married women who do not want to be pregnant again; second, they do not want to have another baby or they want to delay their pregnancy without using any contraception when data was collected. However, this study does not consider how many children they have, how old the latest child and the birth distance. The sample of this study was 336 people who are mothers or women in the status of unmet need. The findings suggest that factors for causing unmet need in East Lampung regency are caused by seven main factors and twelve specific factors. The seven factors are: first is the side effect of the use of contraceptive including obesity, bleeding and irregular menstrual cycles. Second is the cultural factor, including the desire to have male and female children. Third is wives’ perception including the impotent husband, fear of and away from their husband. Fourth is the health factor including, having high blood disease and cervical cancer and cysts. Fifth is the prohibition of husbands in the use of contraceptives. Sixth is religious and cultural prohibition such as considering the born babies is a gift from God, so there is no need to inhibit the birth. Seventh is behavioral factor such as laziness to use contraception.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-63
Author(s):  
Nurmalia Ermi

Background: The use of contraception is one of the benchmarks for the success of family planning programs. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on people to limit activities outside the home. The appeal from the government also has an impact on the possibility of hampering access to family planning services. The delay in family planning services will lead to a decrease in the use of contraception will ultimately have an impact on the uncontrolled birth rate (Baby Boom). The purpose of this study was to see how the use of contraception in couples of childbearing age during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study is a literature review related to the use of EFA contraceptives during the COVID-19 pandemic through the Google Scholar database, PubMed, government publication data. Results: Contraceptive use among new family planning participants decreased in general as well as among MKJP participants in the NTB area. The prevalence of contraceptive use in Indonesia has increased but has not yet reached the national target of 61.8%. In the DIY region, there was a decrease in contraceptive use among active family planning participants, as well as a decrease in the use of pill and injectable contraception. The research conducted in the Kalimantan region found that most women of childbearing age used the contraceptive method with the highest dropout rate, namely the pill. The number of unmet need for family planning in the NTB area has decreased, but the drop out rate for family planning in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemi has increased. Conclusion: The use of contraception during the COVID-19 pandemi in several regions in Indonesia is still fluctuating, but has a tendency to decrease.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kriti Yadav ◽  
Monika Agarwal ◽  
Mukesh Shukla ◽  
Jai Vir Singh ◽  
Vijay Kumar Singh

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kriti Yadav ◽  
Monika Agarwal ◽  
Mukesh Shukla ◽  
Jai Vir Singh ◽  
Vijay Kumar Singh

Abstract Background NFHS-4 stated high unmet need for family planning (FP) among married women in Uttar Pradesh. Unmet need is highest among age groups: 15–19 and 20–24 years. Currently few data is available about unmet need for FP among vulnerable section of the community, i.e.15–24 year’s age group living in the urban slums. Therefore this study was conducted to assess the unmet need for FP services and its determinants among this under-privileged and under-served section of society residing in urban slums of Uttar Pradesh, India. Methods Cross sectional study was conducted in the slums of Lucknow, India. One Urban-Primary Health Centre (U-PHC) was randomly selected from each of the eight Municipal Corporation zones in Lucknow and two notified slums were randomly selected from each U-PHC. All the households in the selected slums were visited for interviewing 33 young married women (YMW) in each slum, with a pre-structured and pre tested questionnaire, to achieve the sample size of 535. Analysis of the data was done using logistic regression. Results The unmet need for family planning services among YMW was 55.3%. About 40.9% of the unmet need was for spacing methods and 14.4% for limiting methods. Important reasons cited for unmet need for family planning services were negligent attitude of the women towards family planning, opposition by husband or others, embarrassment / hesitation / shyness for contraceptive use, poor knowledge of the FP method or availability of family planning services. Among method related reasons health concerns and fear of side effects were frequently cited reasons. On multiple logistic regression: age, educational status, duration of marriage, number of pregnancies, knowledge of contraceptive methods, opposition to contraceptive use and contact with Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) showed independently significant association with unmet need for family planning services. Conclusions Unmet need for family planning services is very high among the YMW of urban slums. The findings stress that program managers should take into cognizance these determinants of high level of unmet need for family planning among YMW and make intense efforts for addressing these issues in a holistic manner.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260972
Author(s):  
Megersa Girma Garo ◽  
Sileshi Garoma Abe ◽  
Worku Dugasa Girsha ◽  
Dawit Wolde Daka

Background Unmet family planning is one of the common causes for low contraceptive prevalence rates in developing countries, including Ethiopia. Rapid urbanization had profound effect on population health, however, little is known about the unmet need of family planning in settings where there was increased industrializations and internal migrations in Ethiopia. This study aims to determine the unmet need for family planning services among currently married women and identify factors associated with it in Bishoftu town, Eastern Ethiopia. Methods Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st January to 28th February, 2021 among 847 randomly sampled currently married women of the reproductive age group. Data were collected using semi structured interviewer administered questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with the outcome variable and a 95% confidence interval was used to declare the presence of statistical significance associations. Results Eight hundred twenty-eight women were participated in the study. The prevalence of unmet need for family planning among currently married women was 26% [95% CI: 23,29]. Maternal age [AOR, 3.00, 95% CI:1.51–5.95], educational status [AOR, 2.49, 95% CI:1.22–5.07], occupational status of self-employee [AOR, 1.98, 95% CI:1.15–3.39] and housewife [AOR, 1.78, 95% CI:1.02–3.12], being visited by health care provider in the last 12 months [AOR, 1.81, 95% CI: 1.26–2.60] and desired number of children less than two [AOR, 1.53, 95% CI:1.01–2.30] were significantly associated with unmet need for family planning. Conclusions Unmet need for family planning was higher in the study area compared with the United Nations sphere standard of unmet need for family planning and the national average, and slightly lower than the regional average. Socio-demographic, economic, and health institution factors were determinants of the unmet need for family planning in the study area. Therefore, health education and behaviour change communication related to family planning services should be strengthened and access to family planning services should be improved.


1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-305
Author(s):  
Louisiana Lush ◽  
George P. Cernada ◽  
A. K. Ubaidur Rob ◽  
Mohammed Shafiq Arif ◽  
Minhaj Ul Haque ◽  
...  

This article presents the results of a number of operations research studies (OR) of family planning services provided by a new cadre of female village-based family planning workers in Punjab Province, Pakistan. This cadre of workers, recruited nationwide, have been trained to visit women in their villages to provide information and family planning services. The studies were conducted as part of a broad program of technical assistance to the Government of Pakistan. Surveys investigated the quality of their training as well as attitudes among clients to the new program. They found that the program is developing well but there is room for improvement, particularly in counseling and training. Additional field studies are ongoing and recommendations for change have been incorporated in training and supervision. The program is expanding on a national scale.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Farhan Asif ◽  
Zahid Pervaiz ◽  
Jawad Rahim Afridi ◽  
Ghulam Abid ◽  
Zohra S. Lassi

Abstract Background Family planning services deliver a wide range of benefits to the well-being of females and the community. It can curtail the risk of maternal and neonatal mortality through the reduction in abortions and pregnancies. The government of Pakistan has been struggling to convince people about the usefulness of family planning programs. However, different factors related to social norms, values, and culture are important to determine the success of these programs. One such factor is the patriarchal structure of Pakistani society where most of the household decisions are made by men. The objective of this research is to examine the role of the husband’s attitude towards the usage of contraceptives for the unmet need of family planning (UMNFP) among married women of reproductive age (MWRA) in Pakistan. Method The dataset of Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017–18 is utilized to examine the role of the husband’s attitude towards the usage of contraceptives in UMNFP among MWRA in Pakistan. Results The UMNFP was considerably lower among MWRA between 40 years and above compared to women 15–19 years. The odds of UMNFP were higher among women and men who were educated up to the primary level compared to those with no education. Odds of UMNFP were higher among women from the poor wealth quintile compared to the poorest wealth quintile; similarly, it was significantly lower among women who were from the richer and the richest wealth quintile compared to the poorest wealth quintile. The odds of UMNFP were lower among women who were employed compared to those who were not employed. Lastly, the odds of UMNFP were higher among women whose husbands opposed to using contraceptives, who perceived that there was a religious prohibition for such use and when a decision on the contraception use was solely made by the husband. Conclusions Husband’s attitude towards the usage of contraceptives is an important predictor of UMNFP. Liaising with the community and religious leaders to persuade people particularly men about the usefulness of family planning programs and encouraging men to understand their women’s say in using contraceptives should be encouraged.


Author(s):  
Laura Ghiron ◽  
Eric Ramirez-Ferrero ◽  
Rita Badiani ◽  
Regina Benevides ◽  
Alexis Ntabona ◽  
...  

AbstractThe USAID-funded flagship family planning service delivery project named Evidence to Action (E2A) worked from 2011 to 2021 to improve family planning and reproductive health for women and girls across seventeen nations in sub-Saharan Africa using a “scaling-up mindset.” The paper discusses three key lessons emerging from the project’s experience with applying ExpandNet’s systematic approach to scale up. The methodology uses ExpandNet/WHO’s scaling-up framework and guidance tools to design and implement pilot or demonstration projects in ways that look ahead to their future scale-up; develop a scaling-up strategy with local stakeholders; and then strategically manage the scaling-up process. The paper describes how a scaling-up mindset was engendered, first within the project’s technical team in Washington and then how they subsequently sought to build capacity at the country level to support scale-up work throughout E2A’s portfolio of activities. The project worked with local multi-stakeholder resource teams, often led by government officials, to equip them to lead the scale-up of family planning and health system strengthening interventions. Examples from project experience in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda illustrating key concepts are discussed. E2A also established a community of practice on systematic approaches to scale up as a platform for sharing learning across a variety of technical agencies engaged in scale-up work and to create learning opportunities for interacting with thought leaders around critical scale-up issues.


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