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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
James N. Gribble, ScD and Victoria H. Jennings, PhD. Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University School of Medicine, 3800 Reservoir Road, NW, 3 PHC, Washington, DC 20007, 202-687-1392, jng@georgetown.edu
"How best to address the gap between contraceptive needs and supplies?" The $24 million gap in 2000 is expected to reach $210 million by 2015. A 20% shortfall in supplies in the public sector during the next 5 years could leave 20 million couples worldwide without family planning services, contributing to millions of unintended pregnancies, abortions, and thousands of maternal and infant deaths.
One part of the solution is introducing locally sustainable family planning methods into programs. This presentation examines how the Standard Days Method--a fertility awareness-based method that is finding broad appeal where it is being introduced-could contribute to alleviating the gap. The method, which identifies days 8-19 of the menstrual cycle as days of pregnancy risk, can be used alone or with condoms and other barrier methods. Using an inexpensive string of colored beads (which can be locally produced) to help women identify which day of the cycle they are on, the SDM has an efficacy rate of 95, comparable to the diaphragm, and male and female condoms. Yet the method requires only the one-time acquisition of the mnemonic device, which can be used for several years without needing to be replaced.
The SDM is being introduced into more and more programs, and interest in the method is growing. As a low-cost, modern method that does not require expensive, imported commodities, the wide-scale introduction of the SDM could contribute to reducing the contraceptive donor gap, while meeting the family planning needs of couples around the world.
Learning Objectives: By the end of the presentation, participants will be able to
Related Web page: www.irh.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.