|
|
|
| ||||||||||
|
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH Assessment of Trends in IUD Use In 2002 researchers from the Population Council's Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program (FRONTIERS) completed two studies examining the reasons for the low utilization of the IUD in Ghana and Guatemala, two countries with high unmet need for spacing and limiting births. The studies found that the reasons for low levels of IUD use are largely setting-specific, but in both countries potential clients lack knowledge of and have misperceptions about the method. In addition, clients are required to have a clinical consultation if they wish to use the method.
From the perspective of providers, the low use of IUDs results from misperceptions about and low confidence in clinical insertion skills. Addressing provider training and marketing issues would improve access and perhaps demand for the method. The growing interest among countries, especially in Africa (Ghana, Kenya, and Senegal), in increasing IUD use presents an opportunity for FRONTIERS researchers to develop an interregional initiative to address these problems in a variety of programmatic settings.
|
|
||||||||||
