Family planning, AIDS, and FHi
Potts, M.
Network 12(2): 22-25
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0270-3637 PMID: 12284276 Document Number: 315559
Family Health International's (FHI) research and development activities in improving and developing contraceptives and making them available to the public are presented. While FHI, along with other agencies, has been actively promoting and contributing to ongoing international family planning efforts since its creation in 1971, the period 1971-91 has, nonetheless, witness more births, maternal deaths, induced abortions, and infant deaths than over any 20-year span in history. While family sizes have decreased over the period due to greater contraceptive awareness and use, politicians, civil servants, and theologians are indicted as partly responsible for retarding further positive change. The number of women of reproductive ages in developing countries will increase by almost 30% in the 1990s, and the world's population will at least double over the next century. 95% of new births will stem from developing countries. Concerted efforts and global commitments of policymakers must be forthcoming in the battle against both high fertility and AIDS prevention. Specifically, at least 130 million new contraceptive users must be recruited in the 1990s. Surveys and field experiences indicate a large degree of unmet need for contraceptive services, with 50-80% of married women in developing countries expressing their desire to limit or space future births. Demand for contraception only increases once a program is in place; rapid reductions of total fertility are exemplified in the cases of Thailand, Colombia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. Given the resources and commitment, the number of users could be doubled within 10 years.