Latest Articles
- Accessible Contraceptive Implant Removal Services: An Essential Element of Quality Service Delivery and Scale-Up
Use of contraceptive implants has surged in recent years, yet emerging data show a deficit of service delivery capacity and coverage for implant removals. The number of projected removals needed in the 69 FP2020 focus countries in 2018 (4.9–5.8 million) is more than twice that estimated for 2015 (2.2 million). We must proactively plan and execute high-quality implant removal services in order to fulfill the exceptional promise of implants in meeting client needs and advancing toward FP2020 goals.
- Using Qualitative Methods to Validate and Contextualize Quantitative Findings: A Case Study of Research on Sexual Behavior and Gender-Based Violence Among Young Swazi Women
Nesting qualitative data collection methods within quantitative studies improves results by assessing validity and providing depth and context. Using data from 3 sources from Swaziland, we triangulate qualitative and quantitative findings to highlight how different methodologies produce discrepant data regarding risky sexual behaviors among young women. We found that women reported similar numbers of lifetime sex partners in all sources, but the proportion reporting multiple and concurrent partnerships was several times higher in qualitative interviews. In addition, qualitative data can provide deeper understanding of how participants, such as those experiencing gender-based violence, understood the experiences behind the quantitative statistics.
- 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.
- Applying a Total Market Lens: Increased IUD Service Delivery Through Complementary Public- and Private-Sector Interventions in 4 Countries
Between 2013 and 2014, IUD services provided to women increased more than threefold–from 22,893 to 79,162–in 417 public facilities in Guatemala, Laos, Mali, and Uganda through a Population Services International pilot that engaged the public sector alongside existing private-sector interventions within an informed choice context. Based on family planning market analyses, the country-specific interventions focused on strengthening policy, service delivery, supply chain management, and demand promotion.
- Ugandan Women’s View of the IUD: Generally Favorable but Many Have Misperceptions About Health Risks
Women in Uganda are aware of the IUD and think it is an effective method, but many think it can damage the womb or make a woman infertile. Addressing public misperceptions through interpersonal communication and the mass media, and provider misperceptions through training, can help to build demand for the IUD in Uganda.
- Expanding Access to a New, More Affordable Levonorgestrel Intrauterine System in Kenya: Service Delivery Costs Compared With Other Contraceptive Methods and Perspectives of Key Opinion Leaders
At a public-sector transfer price of US$15 per unit, the direct service delivery cost of Medicines360's levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG IUS) per couple-years of protection is comparable with the cost of other contraceptive products commonly procured in Kenya. Interviews with key opinion leaders suggest that introduction of a more affordable LNG IUS could help increase demand for the method.
- Increasing Uptake of Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives in Cambodia Through a Voucher Program: Evidence From a Difference-in-Differences Analysis
By reducing financial and information barriers, a family planning voucher program in Cambodia significantly increased contraceptive choice and uptake of more effective long-acting reversible contraceptives among poor women and women with the least education. Without vouchers, many of these women would not have used contraception or would not have chosen their preferred method.
- Vouchers in Fragile States: Reducing Barriers to Long-Acting Reversible Contraception in Yemen and Pakistan
Vouchers for family planning in Pakistan and Yemen reduced barriers, such as cost and availability, and encouraged public and private providers to improve skills, leading to an increase in uptake of long-acting reversible contraceptives and permanent methods.
- Effective LARC Providers: Moving Beyond Training
Effective and productive providers are the key to successful provision of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs). But LARCs demand more of providers than short-acting resupply methods. In addition to sound training, key elements to developing highly productive providers of LARCs include a thorough understanding of the service delivery system context; selecting providers with the most potential, especially from mid-level cadres; strong mentoring and supportive supervision; and attention to the supply chain and to demand-side support.