‘Unmet need strategy’ is a powerful long term plan of action in family planning. In an ‘unmet need strategy’, programs first identify the reasons for unmet need and then use this information to develop specific responses that address these various reasons. Surveys and in-depth studies around the world suggest several approaches as part of most unmet need strategies. They include maximizing access to good-quality health, emphasizing communication, focusing on men as well as women and collaborating with other services for new mothers and young children.

Research Summary: Women with an Unmet Need for Contraception in Developing Countries and Their Reasons for Not Using a Method is a report published ( in June 2007) by Guttmacher Institute (available at: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2007/07/09/or37.pdf). The findings in this report are based on data from the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 53 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America between 1995 and 2005. The report finds that more than one in seven married and one in 13 never-married women aged 15–49 have an unmet need for contraception in the countries reviewed in this report. The regional average level of unmet need ranges from 10% to 12% in South and Southeast Asia, North Africa and West Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The most common reasons given by married women for not using contraception are associated with access to supplies and services. Concerns about the side effects, health effects and inconvenience of methods were by far the most prominent reasons. Method-related concerns were also common reasons for discontinuation of use among women with unmet need who had used family planning in the past. Significant proportions of married women with an unmet need gave exposure-related reasons for nonuse. They believed they were not at risk of getting pregnant, most often either because they were breastfeeding or not having sex frequently. Among never-married women, infrequent sexual activity was by far the most common reason for not using contraceptives, as was the notion that they need not or should not adopt a method until they are married.

Resources: Pathfinder International has published the second edition of Emergency Contraceptive Pills; a manual (which includes a trainer’s guide and participants’ handouts) designed to train physicians, nurses, and midwives in counseling and provision of emergency contraceptive pills. Available at:

http://www.pathfind.org/Pubs_Training_Curriculum.   

News: Nominations are invited for the Red Ribbon Award initiated by a partnership of UNFPA, UNAIDS and UNDP. This international award will honor exceptional grassroots leadership in responding to the AIDS epidemic and will be presented at the XVII International AIDS Conference to be held in Mexico City, 3-8 August 2008. See details at:

www.redribbonaward.org

Events: The Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins will host an international conference on Investing in Young People's Health and Development: Research that Improves Policies and Programs at Abuja in Nigeria from April 27-29, 2008. The thematic areas of this conference relate to population, development, sexual and reproductive health, and gender equity as they affect young people. For further details, visit:

http://www.jhsph.edu/gatesinstitute/policy_practice/adolhealth/

Please send your feedback/information etc. to access@ippfsar.org