UNFPA Study Explores Low Usage of Modern Contraceptives in Eastern Europe

ISTANBUL — The reasons behind the alarmingly low usage of modern contraceptive methods in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have been examined in a study published recently by UNFPA and the International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network. The report is entitled: "Key Factors Influencing Contraceptive Use in Eastern Europe and Central Asia."

The report, which is based on focus group interviews in seven middle-income countries across the region, identifies seven main reasons for these low usage rates. These include a lack of political commitment to reproductive health; a limited range of modern forms of contraceptives and information; a limited range of available contraceptive methods; prohibitive costs and traditional social norms. It furthermore integrates a set of recommendations on how to address the obstacles it identified for contraceptive security, which were endorsed by a high-level meeting in Brussels in June 2012.

Sixteen countries in the region have a modern contraceptive usage rate of less than 50 percent. In five of these (Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Serbia) the rate is below 20 percent, lower than the average for the world's least developed countries, which stands at 22 percent. At the same time, the region has the highest abortion rates in the world. Read the report in English or Russian.

Read the full story on the European Forum on Population and Development website