Informing family planning research priorities: A perspective from the front line in Asia

摘要

Introduction: Impressive reductions of up to 29% in maternal deaths may be expected from satisfying unmet need for contraception, as shown in a recent analysis covering 172 countries (Ahmed et al. 2012). Despite the cost-effectiveness of family planning (Prata et al. 2010), investments remain low (Osotimehin 2012), a concern declared under Goal 5 on the UN Millennium Development Goals website, 'Inadequate funding for family planning is a major failure in fulfilling commitments to improving women's reproductive health.'' Alongside investment and political commitment, clear indicators for the coverage and quality of family planning services are required to design and implement strategies to improve family planning. However, the evidence used in planning and monitoring of family planning is often suboptimal and poses a serious problem for effective, efficient responses to scale up these