The story of PROFAMILIA
Anonymous
JOICFP Integration 32: 19-21
1992
Document Number: 341189
Since PROFAMILIA, the Colombian Family Welfare Association, was founded in 1965, significant achievements have been made in reducing the rate of fertility, the birth rate and population growth in Colombia. PROFAMILIA has been the motivating force behind the considerable increase in family planning and especially, in the use of modern contraceptive methods. In 1965, fewer than one quarter of Colombian couples practised family planning and few used modern contraceptives. Today, some 53% of women between the ages of 15 and 49 use these methods. Through its programmes PROFAMILIA has helped to prevent around four to five million unwanted pregnancies over the last three decades. After the first PROFAMILIA clinic opened in Bogota, around 48 clinics have been opened in rural and urban areas, eight of which offer family planning services exclusively to men. A community-based distribution programme has also been introduced which serves the needs of women in rural areas. The work of PROFAMILIA demonstrates the role that non-governmental programmes can play in a country's family planning efforts. PROFAMILIA is an example of success that any public or private programme can attain if it has the necessary financial resources, effective leadership, competent and motivated personnel and an imaginative approach.