Family Planning in Asia and the Pacific - International Council on ...

family plann<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> reproductive health service networkthat covered both rural <strong>and</strong> urban areas for <strong>the</strong> provisionof st<strong>and</strong>ard, comprehensive <strong>and</strong> quality-of-care services.Comprehensive <strong>and</strong> extended family care-oriented publicservices l<strong>in</strong>ked with consistent <strong>in</strong>formation, education<strong>and</strong> communication (IEC) activities were promotedthroughout <strong>the</strong> country.In addition, Ch<strong>in</strong>a had <strong>in</strong>creased its fiscal <strong>in</strong>vestment<strong>in</strong> population <strong>and</strong> family plann<strong>in</strong>g activities, withaccountability systems <strong>in</strong>corporated <strong>in</strong>to work plans.Also, Ch<strong>in</strong>a encouraged communities to participate <strong>in</strong>family plann<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> reproductive health by improv<strong>in</strong>ga benefits-oriented policy system. F<strong>in</strong>ally, Ch<strong>in</strong>a hadbeen actively engaged <strong>in</strong> policy dialogue <strong>and</strong> experienceshar<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong> terms of both South-South <strong>and</strong> South-North-South cooperation.Some recommendations based on Ch<strong>in</strong>a’s experience <strong>in</strong>promot<strong>in</strong>g family plann<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>cluded <strong>the</strong> follow<strong>in</strong>g: Reposition family plann<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>in</strong>ject new vitality <strong>and</strong>budget; Ensure official attention to family plann<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> nationaldevelopment strategies; Review <strong>and</strong> improve <strong>the</strong> RH service network <strong>and</strong>commodities; Seek <strong>and</strong> promote South-South cooperation <strong>and</strong><strong>the</strong> shar<strong>in</strong>g of experiences <strong>and</strong> partnerships betweencountries.Welcome address byMs. Nobuko Horibe, Director, UNFPA <strong>Asia</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Pacific</strong>Regional Office.Ms. Horibe welcomed all delegates to <strong>the</strong> l<strong>and</strong>markevent, br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> participants from 24 countries toreposition family plann<strong>in</strong>g on national developmentagendas. She stressed that unwanted pregnancy waspreventable <strong>and</strong> avoidable. Under <strong>the</strong> 1994 <strong>International</strong>Conference on Population <strong>and</strong> Development (ICPD),countries committed <strong>the</strong>mselves to “achieve, by 2015,universal access to a full range of safe <strong>and</strong> reliable familyplann<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> reproductive health services”. However,<strong>the</strong>re currently was less focus on family plann<strong>in</strong>g ow<strong>in</strong>gto a variety of factors, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g competition for fund<strong>in</strong>gdue to <strong>the</strong> emerg<strong>in</strong>g HIV epidemic <strong>and</strong> less recognitionthat family plann<strong>in</strong>g was l<strong>in</strong>ked to poverty reduction.In 2006, a new target was added to MillenniumDevelopment Goal (MDG) 5, highlight<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> needto monitor progress towards decreas<strong>in</strong>g unmet needfor family plann<strong>in</strong>g. It had brought back much neededattention to family plann<strong>in</strong>g. <strong>Family</strong> plann<strong>in</strong>g hadproven to be one of <strong>the</strong> most cost-effective <strong>in</strong>vestmentsfor society. Studies showed that each dollar spent onfamily plann<strong>in</strong>g could save governments up to US$31 <strong>in</strong> costs for health care, water, education, hous<strong>in</strong>g,sewers <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r waste disposal etc. Furnish<strong>in</strong>g moderncontraceptives to all women who needed such methodsmore than paid for itself, sav<strong>in</strong>g multiple dollars on<strong>the</strong> cost of maternal <strong>and</strong> newborn care for each dollar<strong>in</strong>vested. Despite <strong>the</strong> evidence, <strong>the</strong>re had not been an<strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>vestments <strong>in</strong> family plann<strong>in</strong>g.The majority of countries <strong>in</strong> South-East <strong>and</strong> East <strong>Asia</strong>had achieved remarkable <strong>in</strong>creases <strong>in</strong> family plann<strong>in</strong>gutilization, yet <strong>the</strong>re was still a need to cont<strong>in</strong>ue<strong>in</strong>vest<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> family plann<strong>in</strong>g to meet <strong>the</strong> needs of <strong>the</strong> highproportion of young people enter<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> reproductiveage group. Countries <strong>in</strong> South <strong>Asia</strong>, West <strong>Asia</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><strong>Pacific</strong> presented a mixed picture. There were countriesthat had reached replacement fertility levels <strong>and</strong> enjoyedhigh levels of utilization of contraceptives; <strong>the</strong>re weresome countries that had stagnat<strong>in</strong>g family plann<strong>in</strong>gservice coverage rates; <strong>and</strong> some o<strong>the</strong>rs that still had lowutilization of family plann<strong>in</strong>g services. Many countriesstill had a high unmet need for family plann<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g abortion rates. The unmet need for familyplann<strong>in</strong>g rema<strong>in</strong>ed disparate among various socioeconomicgroups.<strong>Family</strong> plann<strong>in</strong>g also contributed substantially towomen’s empowerment <strong>and</strong> long-term environmentalsusta<strong>in</strong>ability. It was time to review exist<strong>in</strong>g policies<strong>and</strong> focus on unmet needs, particularly for address<strong>in</strong>g<strong>the</strong> unmet needs of <strong>the</strong> young, unmarried population.There was a need to streng<strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> quality of services,<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g susta<strong>in</strong>ed availability <strong>and</strong> wider choice ofcontraceptives, as well as better coord<strong>in</strong>ation with nongovernmental<strong>and</strong> private sectors, as research showedthat young people did not go to public health centres forfamily plann<strong>in</strong>g.Fur<strong>the</strong>r, a multisectoral approach should be applied toensure that family plann<strong>in</strong>g was considered an essentialnational development strategy for poverty reduction<strong>and</strong> a necessary health strategy aimed at protect<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>health <strong>and</strong> well-be<strong>in</strong>g of women, families <strong>and</strong> societies.It was hoped that <strong>the</strong> consultation would result <strong>in</strong> aplan of action that was operational <strong>and</strong> was relevantfor all countries <strong>and</strong> that would contribute to ensur<strong>in</strong>gthat every birth was wanted. A plan was needed thatwould eventually lead to sav<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> lives of manywomen <strong>and</strong> children, facilitate achievement of MDGs<strong>and</strong> contribute to alleviat<strong>in</strong>g poverty <strong>and</strong> hunger for all.Some 200 million women worldwide, especially <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>poorest countries, still had an unmet need for effectivecontraception. The current <strong>in</strong>vestment <strong>in</strong> family plann<strong>in</strong>gneeded to be doubled to meet that unmet need.12