Family Planning Behavior Health Article

FAMILY PLANNING BEHAVIOR

Reproductive health is defined in the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), held in Cairo, Egypt, in September 1994, as:

A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes. Reproductive health therefore implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when, and how often to do so. Implicit in this last condition are the right of men and women to be informed and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of family planning of their choice, as well as other methods of their choice for regulation of fertility which are not against the law, and the right of access to appropriate health care services that will enable women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth and provide couples with the best chance of having a healthy infant.

Sexual health was also defined in this resolution, "the purpose of which is the enhancement of life and personal relations, and not merely counselling and care related to reproduction and sexually transmitted diseases." In 1999, the United Nations General Assembly adopted its Key Actions for Further Implementation of the Programme of Action. This document focused on population and development concerns; gender equality, equity and empowerment of women; reproductive rights and reproductive health; and partnerships and collaboration.

Reproductive health has widely been interpreted to focus more specifically on providing access and choice in family planning; caring for women before, during, and after pregnancy; preventing and controlling sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome); preventing and treating cervical cancer and breast disease; promoting the health of adolescents; promoting positive communication between sexual partners; promoting special services (i.e., counseling, care, and education) to women that decrease the disparity of services between genders; and supporting positive reproductive health–related practices. The Programme of Action has helped nations throughout the world to understand that, in the everyday lives of people, family planning is an integral part of daily living and overall health.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has outlined four basic goals that should be met for people to achieve reproductive health. These goals were established in order to focus attention on the community at large—how people live, work, and play—and to get people thinking more broadly about the treatment services available at health care delivery centers. These goals provide a basis for reproductive health promotion, prevention, and intervention initiatives. The overall design aspires to create a safe environment where people may: (1) be free from violence and other harmful practices related to sexuality and reproduction; (2) avoid illness, disease, and disability related to sexuality and reproduction, and receive appropriate care when needed; (3) achieve their desired number of children safely and healthily, when and if they decide to have them; and (4) experience healthy sexual development and maturation and have the capacity for equitable and responsible relationships and sexual fulfilment.

Implicit in these goals is the expectation that people should be safe from violations of their human rights, as well as from discrimination based on sex, race, religion, or culture. Women, in particular, should be free from all forms of sexual and physical violence. Both men and women should be seen as equal and responsible contributors to a healthy society.

Family planning enables couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children, and to have the information and means to do so. It also means that people have ongoing availability of a full range of safe and effective contraceptive methods that enable them to take action according to these decisions. This ability to take action is also based upon the cost of contraceptives, ideas (sometimes correct and sometimes erroneous) people have about the different methods, and the support or lack thereof of the partners, extended family members, and wider community. People are deciding to have families at both younger and older ages, and contraceptive technology is enabling them to do so. It is important that these decisions be made not only freely but also with full information about the long-term consequences for both the parents and the children. Unfortunately, there are still many women in the world who die each year from pregnancy-related services. A considerable number of these women want to limit or space their pregnancies but are without the means to do so effectively.

Reproductive rights include all the elements mentioned above related to family planning. They also include the rights of couples and individuals to make decisions about family size and spacing and about which contraceptives will be used, without being coerced or otherwise being subject to violence and other outside pressures to behave in ways contrary to what they would like. Implicit in these rights is the idea of gender equity in decisionmaking, including meeting the educational and service needs of both sexes, and addressing negative attitudes toward women and girls that often result in their having little control over their own sexual and reproductive lives.