Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #121067

Cherrie Lynn Evans, CNM, MSN, MCH, Boston University, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, 617-633-0077, cevans@bu.edu

At 6.8 births per woman, the fertility rate in Afghanistan is among the highest in the world. Equally among the highest in the world is Afghanistan's maternal mortality ratio, which stands at 1900 deaths per 100,000 live births. High fertility is implicated in poor health and increased mortality for women and children. Access to family planning is critical to reducing high fertility and excessive maternal mortality and is limited in Afghanistan. In 1986 Iran had a fertility rate of 7.0 with correspondingly elevated infant and maternal mortality. In 1989 Iran instituted one of the most successful family planning programs in the developing world. This paper examines the events leading up to this policy change and looks at the role Islam played from the program's inception through its implementation. The applicability of these lessons to the Afghan context is then examined. Afghanistan has the new beginnings of a government-run primary health care system in which a reproductive program similar to Iran's could be successful.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to

• Identify the critical need for a comprehensive family planning program in Afghanistan to help decrease unintended pregnancies and thereby help to decrease maternal/infant morbidity and mortality.
• Identify the critical steps taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran in creating its highly successful family planning policy in the 1980s.
• Describe the impact Islam had on the formation of the family planning program.
• Discuss factors related to the success of the program.
• Identify key components of Iran’s family planning policy and program that may transferable to Afghanistan.

Keywords: Family Planning, Policy/Policy Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.