RESEARCH IN FAMILY PLANNING

Abstract

This article illustrates the main trends of the activities of the World Health Organization's Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction during the years 1980-81. In 1981, 80 countries, including 54 developing countries, were involved in the program. The Special Programme explores how to involve the community in family planning. 2 factors which clearly emerged from some of the studies were the conflict between the high esteem in which fertility is held, and the realization of the economic constraint of a large family; another factor is the widespread acceptance in many developing countries of extramarital or relatives' children within a family. Obviously, the community, rather than the family or the individual, should be the target for education and information. Protocols for studies, training manuals, mechanics for supervision and evaluation were prepared by the program. The very good results of 2 pilot studies, in Thailand and in Turkey, training midwives and nurses to provide medical services, have prompted the extension of these services at a national level with highly satisfactory results. Projects to integrate fertility regulation services into the primary health care system of a country have been developed in several countries; the most advanced of these projects, tested in Sri Lanka, was so successful that its inclusion on a national scale was recommended. Studies on the cost of illegally induced abortion on national health services have prompted changes in family planning legislation in many countries. Other studies have shown the effects on maternal and child health of the timing, spacing, and number of pregnancies. Shortage of trained manpower is still a great constraint on the development of services and research in family planning.