Better reproductive health depends on being able to exercise the right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of children. Commodities, especially contraceptives, are essential in helping to make this right a reality.

Unmet need, inadequate supplies and increasing demand pose serious challenges to family planning programmes.

• More than 350 million women do not have access to a choice of safe and effective contraceptive methods.


• Most developing countries, especially the poorest in Africa, will continue to rely on contraceptives supplied by international donors for the foreseeable future.


• Family planning needs will grow as both population and demand increase.

Family planning helps individuals and couples avoid unwanted pregnancies, bring about wanted births, and determine the timing of pregnancies and the number of children in their families. It also slows the rapid population growth that contributes to poverty and environmental degradation.

If access to contraceptives and family planning services were universal, women, families, communities and countries would reap a host of dividends, from healthier and more prosperous families and communities to greater environmental balance.

Increasing Contraceptive Use

	Projected Increase in Contraceptive Users, 2000-2015: (millions of women aged 15-49, developing countries)

Demand for contraceptives exceeds supplies in many countries and is increasing dramatically. Failing to meet this need will result in unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, maternal and infant mortality and diminished economic growth.

Since the mid-1960s, contraceptive use in developing countries has increased from 10 per cent of couples to almost 60 per cent, with 9 out of 10 users relying on modern methods.

The population of reproductive-age couples in developing countries is expected to increase by 23 per cent between 2000 and 2015. Many will be more aware of reproductive health services than their parents were.

The number of contraceptive users is projected to increase by more than 40 per cent between 2000 and 2015 as a consequence of population growth and of an increase in the proportion of people who use contraception.

Providing the Right ‘Method Mix’

Individuals have different needs and preferences when it comes to family planning. Different methods of contraception can meet the different needs and circumstances of users. When their specific needs are being met, family planning efforts are likely to be more consistent and effective.

Many new family planning methods have become available in recent years, including the female condom, which offers women the power to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases as well as unwanted pregnancy. Other contraceptive commodities for family planning include combined oestrogen/progesterone oral contraceptive pills, progesterone-only pills (mini-pills), IUDs, Norplant, injectables, condoms, diaphragms, sterilization supplies, spermicidal products, emergency contraception, and condoms, which also protect against sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS.

Safe Motherhood

Closely related to family planning are efforts to reduce high rates of maternal mortality. More than 500,000 women die unnecessarily each year from complications of pregnancy and childbirth, almost all in developing countries, where access to services and vital equipment and supplies could save women’s lives.

Up to a third of maternal death (mortality) and injury and infection (morbidity) could be avoided if all women had access to a range of modern, safe and effective family planning services that would enable them to avoid unwanted pregnancy.

All couples and individuals have the basic right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children and to have the information, education and means to do so. Principle 8 of the ICPD Programme of Action.

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