Latest Articles
- Strengthening Postabortion Family Planning Services in Ethiopia: Expanding Contraceptive Choice and Improving Access to Long-Acting Reversible Contraception
In Ethiopia, a comprehensive strategy to improve postabortion family planning services has produced overall improvement in the uptake of postabortion family planning and a rise in the choice of more effective long-acting reversible contraceptives to produce a more balanced method mix.
- Rapid Contraceptive Uptake and Changing Method Mix With High Use of Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives in Crisis-Affected Populations in Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Offering a broad choice of contraceptives can rapidly expand use in crisis-affected settings, particularly when the choice includes long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs). Over 5 years, the governments of Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with support from an NGO, provided nearly 85,000 new clients with contraceptives. LARC users, which included an increasing number of IUD users, accounted for 73%.
- The Mayer Hashi Large-Scale Program to Increase Use of Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives and Permanent Methods in Bangladesh: Explaining the Disappointing Results. An Outcome and Process Evaluation
The Mayer Hashi program resulted in a modest increase in use of long-acting reversible contraceptives and permanent methods in Bangladesh, but less of an increase than in comparison nonprogram districts, which appears to have been the result of weaknesses in the health system environment in the program districts. Addressing system issues to support providers beyond training might have led to better results.
- Mentoring, Task Sharing, and Community Outreach Through the TutoratPlus Approach: Increasing Use of Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives in Senegal
Mentoring, task sharing, and community outreach at 100 rural facilities in Senegal led to an 86% increase over 6 months in the number of women choosing long-acting reversible contraceptives (from 1,552 to 2,879). Concurrent improvement of facilities and provider skills, coupled with the application of Senegal’s task-sharing policy, are increasing the range of contraceptive methods available to women throughout the country.
- Increasing Use of Postpartum Family Planning and the Postpartum IUD: Early Experiences in West and Central Africa
Competency-based training in postpartum family planning and postpartum IUD (PPIUD) service delivery of antenatal, maternity, and postnatal care providers from 5 francophone African countries generated an enthusiastic response from the providers and led to government and donor support for expansion of the approach. More than 2,000 women chose and received the PPIUD between 2014 and 2015. This model of South–South cooperation, when coupled with demand promotion, supportive supervision, and reliable collection of service outcome data, can help to expand PPIUD services in other regions as well.
- The Tupange Project in Kenya: A Multifaceted Approach to Increasing Use of Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives
Use of long-acting reversible contraceptives increased significantly among women in a poor, urban setting through training, mentoring, commodity security, quality improvement, multiple service delivery models, and multiple demand-promotion approaches.
- Early Infant Male Circumcision in Cameroon and Senegal: Demand, Service Provision, and Cultural Context
Despite the absence of national policies and strategies, early infant male circumcision is routinely offered at all levels of the health care system in Cameroon and Senegal, mainly because of community demand. Improving medical male circumcision will require service guidelines, preservice training, investigation of surgical and nonsurgical devices, supply chains, data collection tools, engaged communities to raise awareness, and communication strategies for men.
- Comparative Cost of Early Infant Male Circumcision by Nurse-Midwives and Doctors in Zimbabwe
Early infant male circumcision (EIMC) conducted by nurse-midwives using the AccuCirc device was safe and less costly per procedure than when conducted by doctors: for nurse-midwives, US$38.87 in vertical programs and US$33.72 in integrated programs; for doctors, US$49.77 in vertical programs.
- Sustaining Gains Made in Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision
Introducing early infant male circumcision (EIMC) can sustain voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) programs. This Global Health: Science and Practice supplement presents lessons learned, research findings on demand creation, and cost comparisons of various models of EIMC introduction.

