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USAID to promote family planning
Reported by: UNBConnect
Reported on: Sep 19, 2012 08:49 pm
Reported in: National

Dhaka, Sept 19 (UNB) – United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently launched a new initiative to increase the involvement of the private sector in provision of family planning services.The US Government, through the USAID, launched the  initiative titled ‘Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS)’, said a press release Under President Obama’s Global Health Initiative (GHI), USAID will support the work of the Government of Bangladesh to increase the use of effective and voluntary family planning methods and to expand the role of the private sector in health.  Specifically, USAID will work with private sector medical providers to meet the unmet need for a full range of contraceptive products and methods among the 12 percent of Bangladeshi young couples who have expressed a desire to space or limit pregnancies, but are not currently using any contraceptive method.  USAID also provides family planning services in underserved areas through a NGO network of 325 Shurjer Hashi clinics and markets contraceptives through the world’s largest social marketing company (SMC) that provides more than 30 percent of all modern contraceptive methods Bangladeshis use. The growing private sector in Bangladesh can play a significant role in meeting the unmet family planning needs of Bangladeshi population. Over the past decade, there has been significant growth in the private (especially for-profit) health sector, said the release.   USAID, through the SHOPS program, will aim to involve both NGO and for-profit entities in addressing the health needs of the under-served population and will focus on providing quality health services and products at affordable prices. Consequently, these efforts will contribute to the GOB’s goal of improving reproductive health and reducing under-five and maternal mortality in Bangladesh. 

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