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International Conference on Family Planning Starts Today

Political leaders and health advocates from around the world will meet in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Abba, this week for the third annual International Conference on Family Planning. The conference, held by the Gates Institute, will take place from November 12 to 15. Those in attendance, including Malawian President Joyce Banda and Melinda Gates, will discuss their continuing commitment to ensuring every woman has access to comprehensive family planning services.

The theme of the conference, “Full Access, Full Choice,” encourages governments and charities who committed to expanding family planning access at the 2012 London conference to honor their commitments. The conference hopes to provide a platform for successful strategies in expanding access to 120 million women by 2020 as well as many of the hurdles that countries and organizations have faced in trying to reach the goal thus far. Attendees will also discuss the role of political leadership in expanding access to family planning services, the involvement of female advocates to champion such efforts, and effective teenage pregnancy prevention programs.

“Access to family planning information and contraceptives empower women to plan their families, get a better education, and provide a healthier future for their children,” said Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation.

While there has been a global drop in the rate of unintended pregnancies, the proportion of unintended pregnancies remains high, especially in developing regions. High rates of unintended pregnancies reflect the barriers to contraceptive methods that women and men face: in many developing countries, the high cost of quality contraceptives, unpredictable donor funding, and cultural and knowledge barriers all prevent women from accessing family planning services. Additionally, women living in rural communities are often geographically removed from reproductive health care facilities, only compounding the difficulties in being able to regularly access contraception.

Sources:

International Conference on Family Planning; Guttmacher Institute Volume 37, Number 1, March 2011; Africa Science News; Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

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