Afghan women still have little voice in family planning

Family planning increased in some provinces, according to USAID figures, but women still have little say in these decisions, according to a Tufts study:

Contraception use at 10% (St. LouisPost-Dispatch) by Phillip O'Connor, DASHT-E QAL'EH — …Only 10 percent of married Afghan women aged 15 to 49 use any method of contraception, according to the Population Reference Bureau in Washington.

For more than two years, the United States has paid for a birth control program in Afghanistan that distributes condoms and oral and injectable contraceptives…A recent study by Tufts University found that most rural Afghan women have no voice in family planning within their families and that many women wanted to learn more about birth control options. Usually the husband or the mother-in-law makes such decisions, said one USAID health official…

The USAID effort involves making highly subsidized contraceptives available in the commercial markets and also provides free products and family counseling at more than 350 clinics and hospitals the agency oversees. In the 13 provinces where USAID is working to build a rural health care system, the use of all methods of family planning increased from 15 percent in 2004 to 28 percent last year, the USAID official said.