CONTENTS

          Chapters
  1. Using Oral Contraceptives
  2. Continuation and Switching
  3. How Mass Media Can Help
  4. Pill Counseling
  5. Keeping Guidelines Up to Date
  6. Improving Access

HIGHLIGHTS

Population Reports is published by the Population Information Program, Center for Communication Programs, The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21202-4012, USA


Volume XXVIII, Number 2
Spring, 2000

Series A, Number 10
Oral Contraceptives

Good Logistics Management

An effective contraceptive distribution system is crucial to provide women with pills reliably and regularly (54). Pills are not fully accessible if they are in short supply or entirely out of stock. Lack of attention to logistics management can undercut all other efforts to improve supplies and services.

For example, in Uganda a program trained nurses to provide OCs, condoms, and Depo-Provera injectables in several communities. Within three months the number of new clients increased 84%. The contraceptive logistics system, however, did not keep up with the increase in family planning users, and supplies ran short in four of nine districts (114). If contraceptive supply remains irregular for long, clients lose confidence in a service provider. Clients are less likely to return for services when they presume that their chosen method will not be available (54, 131).

Family planning programs can use a variety of techniques to maintain a continuous supply of OCs. These include warehouse and distribution management, commodity forecasting, distribution resource planning, and logistics information technology. The essential element is to calculate the optimal number of supplies to order and thus reduce waste, operate more efficiently, and ensure access (54, 131). Stockouts of progestin-only pills at service delivery points in Malawi fell from nearly 80% in 1998 to 10% in 1999 after a field-level distribution and logistics information system was set up (54).

Bolivian storeroom
Claudia Allers, JSI/FPLM
This storeroom in Bolivia demonstrates effective supply management. A range of contraceptives is in stock and well labeled. Logistics management ensures that supplies are always available.

Toward More Effective Use

Over 100 million women throughout the world rely on oral contraceptives to meet their family planning needs. With adequate financial and policy support, family planning programs and providers can help women use the pill effectively by:

  • Increasing knowledge about the pill through mass-media messages and other communication channels. As women learn more, they are better able to make informed decisions about their reproductive health, to choose a contraceptive method that suits their needs, and to use this method effectively and with satisfaction.
  • Improving the ability of providers to inform and counsel women about the pill. When providers can communicate clearly how to use the pill—in particular, how to manage side effects and how to make up missed pills—clients use the pill better and longer.
  • Making OCs and other methods easily available. The fewer barriers that women face to obtain the pill, both initially and for resupply, the better they can rely on the pill to prevent pregnancy.
Forty years after the introduction of the pill, family planning programs and providers have the knowledge, ability, and experience to help women use OCs effectively in order to achieve their family planning goals, improve their reproductive health, and reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. Helping women use the pill contributes to safety, effectiveness, and users' satisfaction, now and in the future.

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