Abstract
Background
The need for a concerted effort to address the gaps in family planning services for
youth in sub-Saharan Africa has been underreported and underexplored.
Study Design
Trends in fertility, childbearing, unmet need for family planning options and contraceptive
prevalence (CP) among youth are described with data from six African countries with
four consecutive Demographic and Health Surveys. Estimates of exposure to risk of
pregnancy and number of new contraceptives users needed to maintain and double CP
in 2015 are calculated using current CP and projected youth population size in six
African countries.
Results
The youth population is expected to range from approximately 3 to 35 million in six
African countries by 2015. Accounting for population growth and current estimates
of sexual activity among youth, family planning services will need to absorb more
than 800,000 and 11.3 million new contraceptive users total to maintain and double
CP, respectively, in 2015 in those six African countries alone.
Conclusion
Our findings support existing literature that calls for a reorientation of family
planning policies and programs, especially improved access to modern contraceptive
methods among African youth.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: November 23, 2012
Accepted:
October 1,
2012
Received in revised form:
September 28,
2012
Received:
September 5,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
