The fourth International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) ended here yesterday with a call to accelerate efforts to provide contraceptive access to 120 million more women as part of the drive towards sustainable development goals.
Bangladesh needs to stablilise its population through a change in marriage patterns and a shift to long-term contraception in order to ease the burden on infrastructure, health systems and agriculture, experts at an international conference on family planning said during the conference.
While Bangladesh’s progress in family planning had been impressive over the last two decades, it has been almost stagnant for the last four years, which is a matter of concern, they said.
High rates of population growth is exacerbating almost all of the problems facing Bangladesh by overburdening systems designed to meet the needs of much smaller populations, according to data presented at ICFP in Bali, Indonesia.
Bangladesh currently has a population approaching 160 million, a figure that was just 129 million according to a 2001 census.
Organized around the theme “Global Commitments, Local Actions” political leaders and health experts on the fourth and final day of the conference called for action from country governments, donors, civil society and other partners to expand contraceptive access and options, one of the most cost-effective and beneficial health interventions.
“This past year has seen the largest wave of new commitments to FP2020 and existing partners are stepping up with new and increased pledges – a testament not only to the compelling power of the FP2020 vision, but to the growing value of this platform as a catalyst for change,” said Beth Schlachter, executive director of FP2020, a global partnership dedicated to providing access to contraceptives for an additional 120 million women by 2020.
Firmly connecting family planning and development, experts emphasized the importance of family planning to achieve the new Sustainable Development Goals and as the key to addressing an array of development challenges around health, education, poverty and the environment.
Emphasising the need for country ownership, speakers said every dollar spent on family planning can save governments up to 6 dollars that can be spent on improving health, housing, water, sanitation, and other public services.
During the conference, FP2020: “We are delighted by what we have achieved and that we can make an even more significant contribution through our increased pledge to reach 60 million new users of family planning,” said Tewodros Melesse, IPPF’s Director General.
At the closing ceremony, winners of the2016 Excellence in Leadership for Family Planning (EXCELL) Awards were announced by the conference co-hosts, the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Indonesia’s National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN).
More than 3,000 people attended and participated in the fourth International Conference on Family Planning, one of the largest ICFP’s in history. This gathering strengthened the global commitment to achieving the FP2020 goals and rededicated the family planning community’s efforts to ensure all women and girls are able to access affordable, effective and life-saving contraceptives.