What No Ones Talking about at the Family Planning Conclave
Nothing, not even a hurricane, will stop family planning advocates from the mission at hand – reducing the number of children among poor women – even if it means promoting family planning methods with serious health risks.
This week the International Conference on Family Planning gathers reproductive rights stakeholders and government officials in Bali to increase financial commitments and set goals to bring long-acting contraceptives to undeveloped regions where fertility rates are said to be too high. A hurricane in November caused the conference to be cancelled and rescheduled.
“Family planning is about women’s rights and their capacity to make decisions about their health and wellbeing,” said Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the UN Population Fund now operating with a $1 billion budget.
While reproductive rights advocates profess family planning programs be voluntary respecting the rights of women – it is well known among sexual and reproductive health stakeholders that injectable contraceptives containing depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) increase HIV/AIDS transmission and doubles the risk of breast cancer among its users.
Depo Provera has long been part of overseas family planning programs. However the launching of a global family planning initiative – termed FP2020 with $4.6 billion committed over 8 years secured a commitment by the drugs manufacturer – Pfizer Pharmaceuticals to double production of the controversial injectable.
The conference in Bali is launching the scale-up of the new self-inject version of Depo Provera called Sayana Press. It is being lauded as the answer to reaching women and girls in more remote areas. Critics caution this will prevent users from knowing the associated dangers of this hormonal contraceptive and precludes the review of a woman’s health history.
Also directed to poor women and girls is an implant contraceptive Jadelle – Norplant 2, manufactured by Bayer which will be offered at half the cost. Like Depo Provera – Jadelle is a progestogen-only contraceptive having the same health risks to users.
The FP2020 initiative and the recent drafting of the new development framework – the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has provided the impetus for reproductive rights activists to champion population control programs under the guise of women empowerment programs.
The last hurdle to guarantee millions of dollars to these organizations, including to notable abortion groups like IPPF and Marie Stopes for the next 15 years is agreement on outcome indicators in the SDGs that measure progress. Family planning activists are working hard for the inclusion of an indicator that seeks to meet at least 75% of demand for family planning.
How they establish this benchmark for demand is suspect. Current self-reported unmet need figures are far below what is used by sexual and reproductive rights groups.
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