Natural family planning. Abstinence unnatural in primates.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S F Crane.
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A strong demand for family planning exists in most developing countries and family size is falling rapidly in many of them. Effective family planning programmes offer a world-wide range of choices (including voluntary sterilisation and abortion) through a variety of distribution channels. Universal access to voluntary family planning can be achieved easily and cheaply by the turn of the century, but only if conservative medical policies are overcome and funding is greatly expanded. The international community faces a genuine choice: if it responds to current opportunities the global population will stabilize at approximately 10 billion or fewer; if it fails, population may grow to 14 billion or more. The difference between these two projections (approximately equal to the present world population of 5.4 billion) may well determine the future of the planet.
A review of projects run by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in primarily developing countries, which have aimed to provide STD/AIDS education and prevention skills to various marginalized groups, reveals that past quantitative and formative research has failed to identify key programmatic factors which lead to more successful project implementation and sustainability. In observations, interviews with field staff, visits to program sites and information drawn from the literature, a variety of methods to reach a wide range of groups such as men who have sex with men, prostitutes, clients of prostitutes, prisoners, street children, migrant workers and refugees are explored. Factors found to facilitate project success include the following: at least one full-time committed staff member; respectful treatment and appropriate motivation of the target group; suitable and sufficient equipment and supplies (particularly condoms); planning ahead for the participation of HIV-positive individuals and ways to meet their needs; focusing on qualitative rather than quantitative evaluation; planning in advance beyond a 9 or 12 month 'model'. Despite some evidence that marginalized groups can be successfully motivated to practise safer sex through prevention education, long-term behaviour change still presents major challenges--even when specific conditions are met.