Book to Address Vast Unmet Family Planning Needs in Developing Countries
BALTIMORE, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Family planning is
regaining priority status on health agendas throughout the developing
world, driven largely by the unmet needs of millions of women and families.
One significant aide in the effort to support and promote safe family
planning comes in the form of a new handbook called, Family Planning: A
Global Handbook for Providers.
Published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication Programs' INFO
Project, with support from the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID), the handbook brings together the best available
scientific evidence on family planning methods and related topics into one
easy-to-use publication. The book is a result of collaboration among 30
leading health organizations around the world.
Despite great progress over the last several decades, more than 100
million married women worldwide want to prevent pregnancy but are not using
a contraceptive method.(1) Reasons for this unmet need are numerous.
Services and supplies are not yet available everywhere; therefore,
contraceptive choices are limited. Fears of social disapproval regarding
use of contraception or partner's opposition to contraceptive use also pose
formidable barriers. Worries about side effects or lack of knowledge about
contraceptive options also prevent many women from using contraception.
"People need help now," says Paul F.A. Van Look, Director of WHO's
Department of Reproductive Health and Research. "The Global Handbook stands
alone as the single most important, authoritative resource for family
planning in the developing world. It will go a long way in helping to
inform and instruct the correct applications of family planning methods."
The handbook updates a previous book, The Essentials of Contraceptive
Technology. First published in 1997 by the Center for Communication
Programs, nearly one million copies of The Essentials of Contraceptive
Technology have been published in over 10 languages. This book is used
extensively by family planning providers in the developing world.
"This was a remarkable undertaking that WHO convened with 30 of the
world's leading health organizations," said Michael J. Klag, Dean of the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Pubic Health.
"The handbook offers practical guidance to meet reproductive health
needs of women at various stages during their child bearing years. It will
provide invaluable service to those practitioners in reproductive health
whether they are training health professionals or working with clients."
As the fourth in WHO's cornerstones of family planning guidance series,
Family Planning: A Global Handbook for Providers offers technical
information to help health care providers deliver family planning methods
appropriately and effectively. Together, the four cornerstones support the
safe and effective provision and use of family planning methods and can be
used to develop national guidelines.
The handbook is currently available in an English edition both on-line
and as a printed and bound publication. Translations are planned for 10
languages, including: Spanish, French, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese
(African), Romanian, Russian, Swahili, Arabic and Urdu.
All handbooks will be distributed with a free copy of "Do You Know Your
Family Planning Choices?" a wall chart summarizing key points for each
contraceptive method that providers can display to clients.
Further information and instructions for ordering can be found at:
http://www.fphandbook.org.
What People Say About The Handbook
On behalf of CEDPA, I feel honored that I was part of the team which
worked on the handbook. Hope this is used extensively in the field and as
was discussed at the last meeting in Geneva, we should have a plan to
disseminate this new book soon in the field. Hope this would result in
providers giving evidence based advice to their clients. -- Dr. Bulbul
Sood, Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA)/India
Good work -- We're glad to have been an integral part of the handbook's
conceptualization and realization! -- Dr. Roy Jacobstein, EngenderHealth
It is an honor for JSI to be added to the list of contributing
organizations to use and promote this handbook in the field projects
throughout the world. Congratulations to your department WHO, USAID, and
JHSPH for this excellent contribution to the cause of reproductive health.
-- Dr. Theo Lippeveld, Vice President, John Snow Inc.
I have just returned from the DR, where I was working with PROFAMILIA.
Once more I realized that the Handbook will be a tremendous help to
providers and policy-makers. -- Roberto Rivera, Family Health International
(FHI)
Thank you very much for this major contribution to our efforts towards
mainstreaming family planning into reproductive health programming. --
Prof. O. A. Ladipo FRCOG, OON, President/CEO, Association for Reproductive
and Family Health (ARFH), Ibadan
About the INFO Project:
The INFO Project, based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health's Center for Communication Programs, envisions a world of
interconnected communities where shared reproductive health information
improves and saves lives. Our mission is to support health care decision-
making in developing countries by providing global leadership in
reproductive health knowledge management.
The project receives support from the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID).
About the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for
Communication Programs:
With representatives in more than 30 countries, The Center for
Communication Programs (CCP) is a leader in the field of strategic,
evidence- based, communication programs for behavior change to save lives,
improve health, and enhance well-being in communities around the world. The
Center is part of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the
oldest and best-ranked institution of its kind. CCP works with a variety of
public and private sector partners to design, implement and evaluate
strategic communication programs that address the world's most pressing
health concerns including HIV/AIDS, Reproductive Health, Malaria, Avian and
Pandemic Influenza, Safe Water, Nutrition, and Infectious and Chronic
Diseases. For more information visit: http://www.jhuccp.org.
(1)This is from a study released July 2007 by the Guttmacher Institute.
See: http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2007/07/09/index.html
SOURCE Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center
for
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Related links:
http://www.fphandbook.org
http://www.jhuccp.org http://www.guttmacher.org
CONTACT:
Megan L. O'Brien of the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication
Programs, +1-410-659-6300
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