KIGALI, RWANDA – Experts at the ongoing International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) in Kigali, Rwanda, says increasing access to family planning, especially in world’s low-income countries, is critical to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Speaking at the ongoing ICFP conference, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director, Dr Natlia Kanem says, “Achieving the world’s SDGs depend significantly on how well sexual reproductive health, rights, and choices are expanded for women and young people. Meeting their unmet family planning demands is among the most cost effective investment the world can make. Family planning isn’t just a human right, it is a significant part of achieving the SDGs.”
According to Dr Kanem, reproductive health problems are one of the leading cause of death for women and girls in developing countries. Every day, more than 800 women die for reasons that are preventable as a result of pregnancy and childbirth. Improved access to family planning is therefore critical to prevent majority of these death.
Dr Kanem’s assertion came at the heels of the FP2020 report which was launched on Tuesday. The report, entitled FP2020: Catalyzing Collaboration, produced by Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) – a leading global partnership that supports the rights of woman and girls to make reproductive health choices, shows that more than 317 million women and girls are now using modern method of contraception in the FP2020 focused countries. This is 30 percent higher than when the FP2020 was launched in 2012. This also means that more than 46 million additional women and girls started using modern contraception compared to 2012.
Additionally, the FP2020 reveals that between July 2017 and July 2018, the use of modern contraception prevented more than 119 million unintended pregnancies, 20 million unsafe abortions, and 137,000 maternal deaths. However, the report also reveals that while progress on key family planning outcomes has been impressive in recent years, there are over 214 million women and girls who do not have access to contraceptive services.
FP2020 Focus on Africa
Launched in 2012, the goal of the FP2020 is to get additional 120 million additional modern contraception users by 2020. The new report shows that in the world’s 69 lowest-income countries, more women and adolescent girls than ever before are making the voluntary choice to use contraception in their everyday lives. More importantly, country governments are prioritising family planning programs as an essential part of their development strategies.
While over 50 percent (26 million) of the new users recorded in the FP2020 report are from four Asian countries – India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, the report revealed that 24 percent of women of reproductive age in Africa now use modern contraceptive method. FP2020 focused countries in Eastern and Southern Africa grew by 1.1 percent per year while countries in West Africa grew by 0.7 percent per year.
However, the report notes that had Nigeria not been included, the growth rate for West Africa would have been 1 percent point per year. Nigeria has the second lowest growth of contraceptive usage in the West African region. This is due to the country’s increasing population growth and low modern contraception usage among married women. Also the government failed to meet up with the $12.53 million it pledged to invest in family planning as a result of the dwindling oil price in the global market.
Nevertheless, the FP2020 has solidified the importance of data in measuring progress. “One of the things different from 6 years ago is that we have made significant investment in getting data,” says Dr Christopher Elias, the President of Global Development Division for Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, “We now know things we don’t know six years ago. We now know that it is easier to reach married women of reproductive age. We know that even in countries where family planning access is relatively easier, we are not making as much progress as we would love.”
“The FP2020 report shows that while we have made significant progress, we are not on track to achieving the 2020 goal. We are roughly about halfway there. So it is time to re-double our efforts. If you were to ask me one thing that has the greatest potential to contribute to progress of family planning access in the coming year, I will answer without hesitation – it is government willingness to make family planning issue a priority. Country after country, when governments make family planning a priority, the percentage of women with unmet need will decrease.”
Rwanda – the poster child of family planning success
For more than 20 years, the Rwandan government has invested in its health personnel and infrastructure shattered during the genocide. Today, the East African nation has been declared one of the success stories in healthcare and family planning access in modern history.
According to says Dr Kanem, “Rwanda has invested in its network of community health workers. They have run communications, campaigns, to let people know about the availability, how to access family planning programmes, provide training to broaden choices of women who need access to conceptions.”
Through the help of its 58,286 community health workers that provide health service to 14,837 villages; Rwanda has been able to cut its child mortality rate by 50% , increase uptake of family planning methods by 450%, and increase in the proportion of mothers delivering at health facilities by 52 % over the 2010-2015 period. Maternal Mortality Ratio also dropped steadily from 467/100,000 live births in 2010 to 210/100,000 live births in 2015 2 while HIV transmission from mother to child declined from 10.9% in 2004 to 1.5% in 2017.
“The commitment of the government of Rwanda to improve the health of the people of Rwanda is very impressive,” says Dr Elias. “In recent years, the rate of contraceptive usage in Rwanda has reached an impressive 50 percent. Their stride in family planning is an inspiration among other countries”
However, he says while there is still so much that needs to be done, the foundation is “very happy to partner with them to rid the obstacles of the remaining 50 percent.”
Investing in Lifetime of Returns
“Investing in family planning is significantly cost-saving,” says Dr Elias. “If we remove the access barriers for women, adolescents and children, we will unleash a powerful engine for progress.
“Today, more than ever, the fact shows that when it comes to investing in health and quality economic growth, family planning is one of the greatest anti-poverty innovations the world has ever known. It is one of the smartest investments countries can make. Access to contraception changes everything. Couples are more likely to have smaller families and give birth to the number of children they can take care of. More girls stay in school. More women will be able to work outside their home, get an income and to contribute to the economy as well as the growth of the nation. Parents will be able to dedicate more resources to their kid’s health and education. By improving voluntary use of family planning, countries begin to see their population shift and overtime, more people begin to contribute to the economy and are less dependent. So it makes more economic sense.”
Director and Senior Scientist of the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation for Population and Reproductive Health, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Jose “Oying” Rimon II, adds that “One of the best buy for achieving SDGs is to invest in family planning and expand access to contraception. Research has shown that for every $1 that you invest in providing access to contraception, one reaps the benefit that equates to $120,”
Youth Power
Over 20 percent of this year’s ICFP attendants are young people. Dr Kanem believes “Young people’s involvement in leadership is part of the way forward to ensure a healthy and sustainable future in Rwanda, in Africa, and everywhere in the world.”
“When you are able to bring in the young –the best and the brightest from all over the world, there is enthusiasm, there is excitement, there is brilliance and there is the thinking out-of-the-box that it brings,” adds Dr “Oying” Rimon II. “This movement cannot achieve its goals without this new generation of young leaders. They are best gauge to see if we are succeeding or not.”