Volume 5, Number 14

March 29, 2002

Natural Family Planning Gains Adherents in Bangladesh, Says Doctor

     (NEW YORK - C-FAM)  When offered the option, many women in Bangladesh select natural family planning over artificial means of contraception, according to Dr. Hanna Klaus, Executive Director of the Natural Family Planning Center of Washington, D.C.

     This information undermines the conventional wisdom of most international family planning and population control agencies that hold that artificial means of contraception are the only realistic options for poor, uneducated women in the developing world. These agencies favor long-term methods of artificial contraception, such as intrauterine devices (IUDs), as well as permanent methods of chemical and surgical sterilizations.

     Klaus says these beliefs show a disregard for the capabilities of poor women to make choices for themselves. "Long-acting contraceptives and intrauterine devices are closer to veterinary than to human medicine, " says Klaus. "Bangladeshis say as much by rejecting them." The actions of these agencies also illustrate an "elitist" condescension, a prejudice that poor families will not be able to understand fertility, or that husbands cannot control themselves and "will simply not be able to abstain during periods of fertility."

     Writing in a recent edition of the medical journal "Lancet," Klaus records both the widespread popularity of natural family planning (NFP) and the effectiveness of the method. According to Klaus, the "programme of natural family planning was offered through Caritas, a Catholic agency, but only 34% of the acceptors were Catholic, the rest were Muslims and Hindus." And, once the method was taught to women. "There were no method-related unplanned pregnancies in Bangladesh," says Klaus.

     In light of the immense pressure placed upon women in Bangladesh to adopt artificial means of contraception, the success of NFP in Bangladesh may be considered surprising. In an interview with the Friday Fax, Klaus described instances in which family planning officials followed NFP teachers on their rounds. Because the officials were "desperate to get acceptors of artificial contraceptives -- they had quotas to fill in order to keep their jobs," they would record the women who accepted NFP, then return later to attempt to convince them to change their minds.

     Klaus also cited the large influence of money. NFP is free, whereas pharmaceutical companies look to reap billions of dollars of profits on artificial contraception. They therefore offer monetary incentives for family planning officials.

     Despite these pressures, many Bangladeshi women embrace NFP, a fact that teaches important lessons, according to Klaus. Klaus believes that the Bangladeshi experience shows that NFP should be considered a modern method of family planning, because it works. And it should be considered the first, most appropriate method of family planning for the developing world for a number of reasons: it costs nothing, it results in no serious medical complications, and, most importantly, it shows respect for people. Klaus concluded, "When people are respected, they respond."

Home  |  About  |  Programs  |  Research  |  Friday Fax
Inside the UN  |  Center for UN Documents  |  Donate  |  Contact