Effective Family Planning Programs Book

This book assesses the performance of family planning programs in developing countries, looking at their contributions and their costs. Attempts at identifying the attributes and approaches critical to effective programs are examined. This book draws on research to provide not a primer on running programs but a broad overview of what makes programs succeed. Focusing on family planning programs and their operation, it notes but does not elaborate on the contributions that other social development interventions make to an ongoing reproductive revolution, which is gradually transforming demographic prospects and individual lives. The reproductive revolution is evident in the transitions to lower fertility that are occurring in all developing regions: over two decades the average number of children per woman has fallen by a third. As fertility falls, so do infant, child and maternal mortality. Women spend decreasing proportions of their lifetimes giving birth and caring for young children. Despite progress, fertility is still high overall, and real reproductive choice is often an illusion. The developing countries produce most of the 90 million people added to world population every year -- the largest increases in human history. Maternal mortality in developing countries is ten times as high as in industrial countries, Not surprisingly, a quarter of married women express some unmet need for contraception.