Outlook 2014: Seven Issues and Trends for International Family Planning According to DKT International
WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–DKT International, Founder and President Philip D. Harvey and incoming successor Christopher H. Purdy, forecast seven issues and trends to make a significant impact for international family planning in 2014.
“These developments highlight that DKT and other organizations are committed to providing couples with affordable and safe options for family planning”
“Earlier this year the annual World Contraception Day called for a world where every pregnancy is wanted and where individuals are empowered to build contraception into their lifestyles and future plans. The key family planning developments that we see materializing and advancing in 2014 will support and further that goal,” Purdy said.
Harvey and Purdy see significant family planning impact from the following seven trendsfor 2014:
- China will ease its “one child per family” policy rules, which could add one million or more births a year to the world.
- The FP 2020 expansion of family planning services for 120 million women in poor countries by 2020 will take hold as more governments support it with resources and political will
- Digital technology –led by online chats and video postings, and Facebook and Twitter social media use –will bring family planning messages to more people, especially the young.
- National governments will be flooding the public sector with free contraceptive distribution even as they seek more regulation to slow private sector family planning competition.
- New contraceptive products such as a hormonal IUD, three-month injectable contraceptive and user-friendly condoms will offer innovative uptakes for family planning.
- Medical abortiondrugsmifepristone / misoprostol, often distributed by social marketing, will make greater impact in the United States and internationally. However, research is needed on why in some countries sales of the drugs appear to exceed the potential abortions.
- Rising trends in income, education, healthcare and urbanization, along with continually declining birthrates,bode well for increased family planning.
“These developments highlight that DKT and other organizations are committed to providing couples with affordable and safe options for family planning,” Purdy concluded. “The success stories in many countries combine with a growing recognition by national governments that effective family planning has the potential to improve quality of life for their people –an improvement that will become even more evident in 2014.”
Since 1989, Washington, DC-based DKT International has provided safe and affordable options for family planning and HIV prevention through social marketing, establishing it as one of the largest private providers of family planning products and services in the developing world.www.dktinternational.org.
Contacts
for DKT International
Suzy Ginsburg, 713-721-4774