Abstract

PIP: Family Health International (FHI) will conduct surveys of contraceptive retail sales in Honduras and Nepal to provide information for policymakers and family planning service providers on how to increase th low levels of contraceptive prevalence and user satisfaction and how to improve use--effectiveness and continuation rates in the 2 countries. Data from the 1984 Maternal Child Health and Family Planning Survey show that contraceptive use has increased markedly in Honduras in the last 3 years, from 27% of married women aged 12-44 in 1981 to 35% in 1984, but the use of oral contraceptives (OCs) remained the same (11% in 1981 and 12% in 1984). A reason for this may be the high cost of OCs. ASHONPLAFA, a private Honduran family planning association, provides contraceptives at low cost through community-based distribution programs in an effort to increase use among poor women. Recently a Social Marketing Program was created to increase accessibility of contraceptives for middle and lower income women. 43% of all contraceptors in Honduras use OCs. The Social Marketing Program offers the OC Perla at less than half the cost of the commercial sector. Perla is sold at approximately 340 pharmacies and health stores, and the Program hopes to expand the number of distribution outlets. Women who discontine OC use usually blame side effects. The FHI survey will interview 500 Perla users and 1500 users of other brands at the time of purchase in 18 of the 340 pharmacies and health stores where Perla is sold. It will determine what Perla users know about OCs and compare it with the knowledge of the users of other brands. The survey also will determine the contraceptive status of women before they began using Perla and compare it with the contraceptive status of non-Perla users. In Nepal there appears to be a great unmet need for family planning services. The government and local private organizations are working to meet the demands of couples. The Nepal Contraceptive Retail Sales company is a private organization that assists government-sponsored family planning by making services available through their medical shops and general stores. Education and motivation of retailers and contraceptive users is a high priority of the program. The FHI-supported survey will sample retailers and consumers from a large number of the medical shops to determine their knowledge, attitudes, and use of certain contraceptives sold at the outlets. The study also will assess the retailers' training the family planning and the need for more information and training. As in Honduras, the Nepal survey will enable policymakers to structure programs to increase contraceptive prevalence through improvements in the marketing and delivery of family planning services.