Achieving contraceptive prevalence rate of 55% by 2020 is still a dream for Pakistan, to help improve reproductive health and life expectancy of female population. Lack of awareness and misconceptions about contraception measures are resulting in health issues for many mothers/expecting mothers as they are unable to make informed decisions about family planning.
According to a report by Guttmacher Institute, maternal mortality in Pakistan is estimated at 178 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015 which translates to the death of an estimated 10,000 women in 2017. Millions of women in Pakistan do not receive the maternal and newborn care they need to prevent and manage health complications that may arise during pregnancy, delivery and the postpartum period.
Based on 2017 data, there are an estimated 10.1 million pregnancies in Pakistan each year, 3.8 million (37%) of which are unintended. Twenty percent of these unintended pregnancies end in unplanned births and 69% end in induced abortion (and the remainder end in miscarriage). About 52% of married women aged 15-49 who want to avoid a pregnancy have an unmet need for modern contraception, which means they are not using contraceptives at all or are using a traditional method. Most unintended pregnancies result from unmet need for modern contraception.
The report estimated that satisfying the unmet need for modern contraception among married women would increase the annual cost of services (based on public-sector costs) from an estimated US$81 million in 2017 to US$173 million, covering contraceptive commodities, staff salaries, health infrastructure upgrades, contraceptive counseling, outreach activities, and improvements to programmes and systems.
This will help reduce the US$1.89 billion bill of providing all pregnant women each year with a comprehensive package of maternal and newborn health care, which due to preventing unintended pregnancy through the use of modern contraceptives would decrease to US$1.82 billion, while improving the reproductive health of the female population. To ensure the wellbeing of women, families and community, modern contraceptive services play a pivotal role. Contraceptive use enables couples to plan the number and timing of their children, resulting in maternal and newborn care. Unfortunately the lack of awareness and social taboos are belittling the importance of contraceptive use, health professionals, said.
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