Contraception and women's health

Abstract

More and more women all over the world are opting for fertility by choice not by chance. Contraceptive use has a tremendous impact on women's health. The ability to regulate and control fertility is a basic component of health, positively defined as a state of physical, mental and social well-being. Contraception is saving the lives of women around the world from the hazards of unwanted pregnancy. Optimal childbearing is also contributing to infant and child survival. Contraception has a complex relationship to sexually-transmitted diseases. Contraceptive safety is a major public health concern. The risk/benefit assessment will differ for different populations, for different individuals, and even for the same individual at different periods of life. The family planning movement started as a movement by women for women. Women's perspectives and women's concerns should guide the future of contraceptive research and development.

PIP: Currently, more than 50% of married women of childbearing age are using a form of contraception. Between 1960-65 and 1985-90, the number of contraceptive users in all developing countries increased from 31 to 381 million, in East Asia from 18 to 217 million, in Latin America from 4 to 44 million, in South Asia from 8 to 94 million, and in Africa from 2 to 18 million. WHO has recently estimated that over 500,000 women die each year from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. With a worldwide estimate of 36-53 million induced abortions performed each year, between 125,000 and 170,000 women die each year because of unsafe abortions. According to data from the World Fertility Survey, short spacing between births raises the average chances of offspring dying in infancy by 60-70% and the chances of dying before the age of 5 years by about 50%. WHO's minimal estimate for yearly incidence of bacterial and viral STDs (excluding HIV infection) is 130 million. Most STDs have more serious sequelae in women than in men and lead to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), permanent infertility, and the risk of ectopic pregnancy. African countries with high incidence of STDs have the lowest prevalences of contraceptive use. A recent examination of the WHO international data base of 22,908 IUD insertions and 51,399 woman-years of follow-up indicates that the occurrence of PID in IUD users is most strongly related to the insertion process and to background STD risk and suggests that PID is an infrequent occurrence after the insertion period. A WHO Scientific Working Group review confirmed the beneficial effects of oral contraceptives in reducing the risk of ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, and biopsy-proven benign breast diseases. A WHO collaborative study in 5 centers in Kenya, Mexico, and Thailand provided assurance that women who used DMPA for a long time and who initiated use many years previously are not at increased risk of breast cancer.