News Release
FOR RELEASE
September 27, 2001
FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES LIMIT ABORTION:
Evidence from Bangladesh
Abortion often rises as birth rates decline in developing nations, especially for couples desiring smaller family sizes but lacking adequate contraception. This can cause particular problems in developing countries with high rates of unsafe abortion, which carries great risk of maternal morbidity and mortality. More accessible and better quality family planning services, however, can help prevent abortion rates from rising when they otherwise might, according to research published in The Lancet this week by Mizanur Rahman of Pathfinder International, Julie DaVanzo of RAND, and Abdur Razzaque the ICDDR,B Centre for Health and Population Research.
Rahman, DaVanzo, and Razzaque analyze experimental data on contraception and abortion in two areas of the rural Bangladeshi subdistrict Matlab. These areas are similar to each other and typical of rural Bangladesh. In both areas, desired family size has been similar and declined at nearly equal rates, and, in both, couples have access to standard government contraceptive services. In one of the areas, they receive more frequent visits by community health workers providing counseling and delivering contraceptives and they have access to special clinics providing family planning services. Contraceptive use is greater in the area with better family planning services. This greater contraceptive use has led to fewer unintended pregnancies and a rate of abortion less than one-third that in the area receiving only standard government contraceptive services.
"Clandestine abortion kills 80,000 women around the world each year," said DaVanzo (julie@rand.org), Director of the Population Matters program and the RAND Center for the Study of the Family in Economic Development. "Programs such as the Matlab initiative can help reduce such tragic figures."
"It is only through appropriate comparative data that we can see the true effects of family planning services on abortion, independent of other variables," said Rahman (MRahman@pathfind.org), Director of Evaluation for Pathfinder. "Abortion may increase when the demographic transition leads couples to want fewer children and to perceive greater 'costs' for unplanned children unless quality family planning services are available."
"We are encouraged that effective family planning programs are also effective in reducing rates of abortion" added David Sack, ICDDR,B director.
The policy brief "Family Planning Services Limit Abortion: Evidence from Bangladesh" summarizes the main findings of the article.
RAND has collaborated with the ICDDR,B Centre for Health and Population Research on several projects in the past ten years. The ICDDR,B Centre for Health and Population Research seeks to develop and disseminate solutions to major health and population problems. It recently received the first-ever Gates Award for Global Health in recognition of the major and lasting contribution to global health that the Centre has made.
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