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Increasing contraceptive use in rural Pakistan: an evaluation of the Lady Health Worker Programme.

Increasing contraceptive use in rural Pakistan: an evaluation of the Lady Health Worker Programme.

  • March 1, 2005
  • Megan Douthwaite, Patrick Ward
  • Article

Between 1990–91 and 2000–01, contraceptive use in Pakistan more than doubled, coinciding with the government’s efforts to increase access to contraceptive services, especially in rural areas. The Lady Health Worker Programme (LHWP), initiated in the early 1990s, integrated family planning into primary health care at the doorstep. A national evaluation using data from 4277 women showed that the LHWP significantly increased modern contraceptive use among rural women. Women served by Lady Health Workers were more likely to use modern reversible methods than those in control areas. The success of this community-based model supports its continued use to achieve universal access to safe family planning methods by the end of the decade.

  • Source: Health Policy and Planning

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