PMA 2020 Report On Contraceptive Launched

Findings of an innovative cell-phone-based survey conducted in Ghana recently, show that modern contraceptive used among married women has increased modestly from 16.6 to 18.4% since 2008 Ghana. Demographic Health Survey (GDHS) with marked increases in the use of more effective methods such as injectables and implants.

The survey also showed that the average number of children per woman in Ghana has steadily declined from 6.4 in 1998 to 3.7 in 2013.Adolescent fertility has fallen to 64 births per 1,000 women in the 15-19 years age group.

The results were announced at a national dissemination workshop in Accra based on the first round of performance monitoring accountability/2020/ Ghana survey. The study was implemented by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in partnership with the University of Development Studies (UDS).Tamale.

The survey introduced two ground-breaking advances in data collection; use of mobile-phone technology and establishing a cadre of 100 female residents enumerators from across Ghana to conduct the survey in their communities. Despite some progress, 37% of women have an unmet for modern contraception in Ghana and 43% of births in Ghana is unintended with 31% of women wanting that birth and 12% wanted no more children. Taken together, there is continued high need for family planning.

The study also found that 16% of households in Ghana rely on unimproved water sources as their main source and 20% as a regular source of water. Only 12% of the population belongs to households that report having a place to wash hands. Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020(PMA2020) is a 5-year project, implanted by the Bill and Melinda Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg school of Public Health. The survey is being conducted in 10 countries in Africa and Asia, and supports the FP2020 commitment to meeting the family planning needs 120 women by 2020.Ghana is the first country launched in this pioneering effort. The survey is funded by Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.

The PMA2020 surveys involve interviewing a probability sample of female aged 15-49 years and probability sample of health facilities, pharmacies, and retail outlets that offer family planning services (service delivery points (SDPs)). The female respondents will be asked of their use of family planning methods, their reproductive health, and other information that will be helpful to policymakers and program administrators in health and family planning.

According to PMA facilities included in the SDP sample are a sample of all facilities in the country that offer routine client services, such as family planning, antenatal, and HIV/AIDS services, or are private business that family planning methods either public or private the statement said.