Table of Contents
Chapters
- Fertility Continues to Decline
- Contraceptive Use
- Contraceptive Method Mix
- Awareness and Availability of Contraception
- Other Direct Influences on Fertility
- Fertility Preferences
- Young Women
- Child Survival and Health
- Maternal Health
Highlights
Published by the INFO Project, Center for Communication Programs,
The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 111 Market Place,
Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, USA
Volume XXXI, Number 2,
Spring 2003
Series M, Number 17
Special Topics
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Awareness and Availability
of Contraception
In order to use contraception, people must know about it, regard its use as beneficial, and be able to obtain the methods that they want to use. Surveys find that awareness of contraception is nearly universal among married women in developing countries and that most people approve of family planning.
In most countries the mass media, especially television and radio, are a key source of information about family planning. Most women who know about contraception also know where to obtain it. Sources of contraception, whether public, private, or other, vary widely from country to country.
Awareness and Approval
In 37 of 60 developing countries surveyed, at least 95% of married women know of at least one contraceptive method (modern or traditional).6 In 36 countries, at least 95% know of at least one modern method (see Table 4).
Even in rural areas, 70% or more of married women are aware of at least one modern contraceptive method except in several African countries. Urban-rural differences in awareness of contraception tend to be smaller than urban-rural differences in contraceptive use. In 13 of the 60 surveyed countries, women in rural areas are as likely as women in urban areas are to know of at least one modern method. In 17 countries, however, awareness of a modern method ranges from 15 to 42 percentage points higher among urban women than among rural women. Of these 17 countries, 12 are in sub-Saharan Africa, the others being Bolivia, Guatemala, Mauritania, Pakistan, and Yemen (see Table G).
Awareness of specific contraceptive methods varies substantially among surveyed countries (see Table 4). For instance, awareness of OCs is widespread, but in a few countries fewer than half of married women know about OCs. Similarly, male condoms are among the best-known contraceptive methods in the world, but in eight surveyed countries fewer than half of married women know of this method.
While awareness of at least one contraceptive method is necessary for use, knowledge of a range of effective methods is essential to informed choice of family planning and makes contraceptive use more likely. The option to switch methods is central to continued use of family planning. Having a range of methods helps people switch methods when their needs change, rather than use one that has become inappropriate or unsatisfactory or else discon-tinue use of contraception altogether (128).
The average number of contraceptive methods that women know about varies substantially among countries. At one extreme, among countries surveyed by the DHS, in Chad women know of an average of only 1.4 methods. At the other extreme, in Bangladesh, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Jordan, and Peru, women are aware of an average of nine methods.
Approval of family planning. In 27 of 50 countries with survey data, more than half of married women say that they approve of family planning and think that their husbands also approve of it (see Table H). Among 24 developing countries outside sub-Saharan Africa, only in Mauritania, Pakistan, and Yemen does joint approval fall below 50%.
Many women approve of family planning, while they believe their husbands may not approve. In sub-Saharan Africa approval among women, regardless of husband’s approval, averages 74%. Elsewhere, women’s approval ranges from 76% in the Near East and North Africa to 88% in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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In the DHS respondents are first asked to name all contraceptive methods that they have heard of. They are then asked if they recognize any of the methods that they did not mention spontaneously. Data in this report in-clude both spontaneous and prompted responses. |
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