New Report Shows Use of Modern Contraception on the Rise in Nepal

Over 1.2 Million Unintended Pregnancies and Over 480,000
Unsafe Abortions Prevented Since July 2017

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KIGALI, RWANDA - Media OutReach - 13 November
2018 - A groundbreaking international report shows the use of modern contraception on the rise in Nepal, preventing over
1.2 million unintended pregnancies and 489,000 unsafe abortions between July
2017 and July 2018.

The report shows Nepal is on track to achieve
its goals for modern contraception use by 2020, as the Government boosts
spending on family planning.  However,
over one quarter of married women aged 15-49 in Nepal still have unmet need for
modern contraception.

Beyond Nepal, the report shows more women and
girls than ever before are making the voluntary choice to use contraception in
the world’s 69 lowest-income countries.

The report entitled FP2020: Catalyzing Collaboration has been produced by Family
Planning 2020 (FP2020) – a global partnership that supports the rights of women
and girls to freely decide whether, when, and how many children they want to
have.  The report for the first time ever
includes new data on government spending on family planning in Nepal.  The report — available electronically [progress.familyplanning2020.org]
shows:

In Nepal:

• Domestic government spending on
  family planning of $2.2 million (2016)
• In Nepal, among women aged 15-49,
  an estimated 38.1% or 3.2 million are using a modern method of contraception in
  2018. This is 622,000 more than in 2012.
• The rate of modern contraceptive
  use among married women has increased to 49.1%.
• As a result of modern
  contraceptive use between July 2017 and July 2018:

           ?    
1,222,000 unintended pregnancies
were prevented

           ?    
489,000 unsafe abortions were
averted

           ?    
1,600 maternal deaths were averted

• However, 27.6% of married women
  aged 15-49 have an unmet need for a modern method of contraception.
• The Safe Motherhood and
  Reproductive Health Rights Act has been enacted in 2018 to promote and protect
  reproductive health and rights. The law also includes a provision making
  reproductive health care free of charge in public health facilities and
  emphasizes that services must be available to adolescents and disabled
  individuals.
• Adolescent Friendly Services are
  being scaled up and health facility staff are trained in providing services in
  adolescent-friendly manner. 1134 adolescent-friendly sites in Nepal have been
  established.

Globally:

• The number of women and girls
  using a modern method of contraception in the world’s 69 poorest countries had
  grown to more than 317 million, as of July 2018.
• This is 46 million more users than
  in 2012 (the year FP2020 was launched) — an increase that is around 30% greater
  than the historic trend.

Executive Director of Family Planning 2020,
Beth Schlachter said:

“Rights-based
family planning is a catalyst that unlocks the potential of girls and women in
Nepal and around the world. Our goal is to ensure that each one is able to
exercise her basic rights to self-determination, health, dignity, and
equality.  This is a core strategy for
countries to improve the health and well-being of their citizens and economy.

“Women
represent half the global population, and there can be no healthy population
globally or in Nepal without reproductive health care.  As we continue to build the framework for
Universal Health Coverage (UHC), we must ensure access to full, free, voluntary
contraception is included for all women and girls.  As countries build UHC strategies,
rights-based family planning and SRHR services must be integrated within
primary health care systems.” 

Interviews about
the report, and its significance in Nepal are available with the following individuals.  If you would like an in interview, or have
written questions, please reach out directly by email.

A fact sheet with
more data specific to Nepal from the new report, as well as photo images you
are welcome to use, can be found here [https://we.tl/t-N6t2UUf3Xs].
If attribution is needed, please attribute to Family Planning 2020.

The report is being launched at the
International Conference on Family Planning. 
Please follow and join in the conversation at:

Twitter: @FP2020Global

Facebook: /Family
Planning2020

YouTube:
FP2020Global

More background on Nepal’s recent activities
and progress relating to family planning can be found at http://www.familyplanning2020.org/nepal.