FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 6, 2002

Hopkins Report: Contraceptive Funding Faces Crisis in Developing Countries

The number of contraceptive users in developing countries is expected to surge by more than a third within the next 13 years, reaching 764 million by 2015. Without more funding for contraceptives, many couples will be unable to plan how many children to have and when, or to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS or other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), according to a new report from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

In developing countries and countries of the former Soviet Union, there will be an additional 212 million users by 2015—up from 552 million in 2000, according to unpublished UN estimates cited in the latest issue of Population Reports, Family Planning Logistics: Strengthening the Supply Chain, published by the Johns Hopkins Population Information Program. In the face of uncertain funding and growing demand, the report calls for reproductive health programs in developing countries to strengthen their contraceptive supply systems as one way to stretch scarce resources.

The three main sources of funding for contraceptives in developing countries are international donors, national governments, and consumers. From 1992 to1996 international donors such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) provided an average of about 41% of the total needed. If they were to continue to provide the same proportion of projected contraceptive requirements, international donors would have to come up with US $390 million in 2002 and almost double that—$739 million dollars—by 2015. Total donor support for contraception reached $172 million in 1996, fell to $131 million in 1999, and rose to $154 million in 2000.

”Countries that depend on donor support to help meet the demand for contraceptives face a crisis,” warns the report. Developing countries' share of the projected need—which includes government and consumer purchases—would have to total $564 million in 2002 and rise to $1,067 million in 2015.

”Declining funding for contraceptives has serious implications for health,” according to the report. It cites UN estimates that each $1 million decline in contraceptive assistance would result in 360,000 additional unintended pregnancies, 150,000 more induced abortions, 11,000 more infant deaths, and 800 more maternal deaths. “Without measures to help developing country family planning programs become self-sustaining—by increasing government spending for family planning and by expanding private-sector involvement—inadequate donor funding for contraceptives threatens contraceptive security,” according to the report.

One way to stretch resources is to ensure that contraceptive supply chains work efficiently, according to the Hopkins report. The Population Reports issue, which is based on a John Snow Inc. report, Programs That Deliver , outlines how programs can improve logistics. Specifically, programs can:

• Strengthen human resources through leadership, supervision, staff development, motivation, and training;
• Develop strong logistics management information systems to manage and monitor the flow of contraceptives, account for products in the supply chain, reduce supply imbalances, and improve efficiency;
• Improve forecasting and procurement to ensure a continuous supply of enough contraceptives to meet demand; and
• Carry out distribution plans that focus on getting contraceptives to clients, not just on moving them from one point to another and keeping them on shelves.

The goal is to meet the needs of family planning clients by providing a dependable supply of good quality and affordable contraceptives. “Today…more logistics managers see that clients are the purpose of the supply chain, not just the final link,” says the report.

This issue of Population Reports was prepared by Vidya Setty-Venugopal, M.P.H., and Robert Jacoby of the Population Information Program, and Carolyn Hart of John Snow Inc.'s DELIVER Project. Population Reports is an international review journal of important issues in population, family planning, and related matters. It is published four times a year in four languages by the Population Information Program at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs for more than 170,000 family planning and other health professionals worldwide, with support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID administers the US foreign assistance program, providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide.

For more information contact: Stephen M. Goldstein or Kim Martin at Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, USA. Tel: 410 659-6140; Fax: 410 659-6266 e-mail: press@jhuccp.org. PRESS ROOM: http://www.jhuccp.org/pressroom/

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