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BACKGROUND:Family planning programs increasingly aim to encourage men to be involved in women's reproductive health decision-making as well as support men to be active agents of change for their own and the couple's reproductive health needs. This study contributes to this area of work by examining men's exposure to family planning (FP) program activities in urban Senegal and determining whether exposure is associated with reported FP use and discussion of family planning with female partners. METHODS:This study uses data from two cross-sectional surveys of men in four urban sites of Senegal (Dakar, Pikine, Guédiawaye, Mbao). In 2011 and 2015, men ages 15-59 in a random sample of households from study clusters were approached and asked to participate in a survey about their fertility and family planning experiences. These data were used to determine the association between exposure to the Initiative Sénégalaise de Santé Urbaine (in English: Senegal Urban Reproductive Health Initiative) family planning program interventions with men's reported modern family planning use and their reported discussion of FP with their partners. Since data come from the same study clusters at each time period, fixed effects methods at the cluster level allowed us to control for possible program targeting by geographic area. RESULTS:Multivariate models demonstrate that religious leaders speaking favorably about family planning, seeing FP messages on the television, hearing FP messages on the radio, and exposure to community outreach activities with a FP focus (e.g., house to house and community religious dialogues) are associated with reported modern family planning use and discussion of family planning with partners among men in the four urban sites of Senegal. CONCLUSIONS:This study demonstrates that it is possible to reach men with FP program activities in urban Senegal and that these activities are positively associated with reported FP behaviors.

Providers interview FINAL FROZEN. Health Facility Providers Survey. (PDF 299Â kb)

Pharmacy Audit FINAL FROZEN. Pharmacists Survey. (PDF 226Â kb)

Background Health service providers can restrict access to contraceptives through their own imposed biases about method appropriateness. In this study, provider biases toward contraceptive service provision among urban Nigerian providers was assessed. Methods Health providers working in health facilities, as well as pharmacists and patent medical vendors (PMV), in Abuja, Benin City, Ibadan, Ilorin, Kaduna, and Zaria, were surveyed in 2011 concerning their self-reported biases in service provision based on age, parity, and marital status. Results Minimum age bias was the most common bias while minimum parity was the least common bias reported by providers. Condoms were consistently provided with the least amount of bias, followed by provision of emergency contraception (EC), pills, injectables, and IUDs. Experience of in-service training for health facility providers was associated with decreased prevalence of marital status bias for the pill, injectable, and IUD; however, training experience did not, or had the opposite effect on, pharmacists and PMV operator’s reports of service provision bias. Conclusions Provider imposed eligibility barriers in urban study sites in Nigeria were pervasive - the most prevalent restriction across method and provider type was minimum age. Given the large and growing adolescent population - interventions aimed at increasing supportive provision of contraceptives to youth in this context are urgently needed. The results show that the effect of in-service training on provider biases was limited. Future efforts to address provider biases in contraceptive service provision, among all provider types, must find creative ways to address this critical barrier to increased contraceptive use.

PMS FINAL FROZEN. PMV Operators Survey. (PDF 252Â kb)

Background Family planning (FP) researchers and policy makers have often overlooked the importance of involving men in couples’ fertility choices and contraception, despite the fact that male involvement is a vital factor in sexual and reproductive health programming. This study aimed to assess whether men’s exposure to FP demand-generation activities is associated with their reported use of modern contraceptive methods. Methods We used evaluation data from the Measurement, Learning & Evaluation project for the Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (URHI) in select cities of three African countries (Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal) collected in 2012/2013. A two-stage cluster sampling design was used to select a representative sample of men in the study sites. The sample for this study includes men aged 15–59 years who had no missing data on any of the key variables: 696 men in Kenya, 2311 in Nigeria, and 1613 in Senegal. We conducted descriptive analyses and multivariate logistic regression analyses to assess the associations of interest. All analyses were weighted to account for the study design and non-response rates using Stata version 13. Results The proportion of men who reported use of modern contraceptive methods was 58 % in Kenya, 43 % in Nigeria, and 27 % in Senegal. About 80 % were exposed to at least one URHI demand-generation activity in each country. Certain URHI demand-generation activities were significantly associated with men’s reported use of modern contraception. In Kenya, those who participated in URHI-led community events had four times higher odds of reporting use of modern methods (aOR: 3.70; p

Background In Senegal, unintended pregnancy has become a growing concern in public health circles. It has often been described through the press as a sensational subject with emphasis on the multiple infanticide cases as a main consequence, especially among young unmarried girls. Less scientific evidence is known on this topic, as fertility issues are rarely discussed within couples. In a context where urbanization is strong, economic insecurity is persistent and the population is globalizing, it is important to assess the magnitude of unintended pregnancy among urban women and to identify its main determinants. Methods Data were collected in 2011 from a representative sample of 9614 women aged 15–49 years in six urban sites in Senegal. For this analysis, we include 5769 women who have ever been pregnant or were pregnant at the time of the survey. These women were asked if their last pregnancy in the last two years was ‘wanted ’then’, ‘wanted later’ or ‘not wanted’. Pregnancy was considered as unintended if the woman responded ‘wanted later’ or ‘not wanted’. Descriptive analyses were performed to measure the magnitude of unintended pregnancies, while multinomial logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with the occurrence of unintended pregnancy. The analyses were performed using Stata version 12. All results were weighted. Results The results show that 14.3% of ever pregnant women reported having a recent unintended pregnancy. The study demonstrates important distinctions between women whose last pregnancy was intended and those whose last pregnancy was unintended. Indeed, this last group is more likely to be poor, from a young age (< 25 years) and multiparous. In addition, it appears that low participation of married women in decision-making within the couple (management of financial resources) and the lack of discussion on family planning issues are associated with greater experience of unintended pregnancy. Conclusion This study suggests a need to implement more targeted programs that guarantee access to family planning for all women in need. In urban areas that are characterized by economic insecurity, as in Senegal, it is important to consider strategies for promoting communication within couples on fertility issues.

Background With the focus of global and national family planning initiatives on reaching “additional user” targets, it is increasingly important for programs to assess contraceptive method discontinuation and switching. This analysis calculated the discontinuation rate and method-specific discontinuation rates, examined reasons given for contraceptive discontinuation, and assessed characteristics associated with subsequent contraceptive switching and abandonment among women living in urban areas of Senegal. Methods Data came from the Measurement, Learning & Evaluation project’s 2015 survey of 6927 women of reproductive age living in six urban sites (Dakar, Pikine, Guédiawaye, Mbao, Kaolack and Mbour). Information on contraceptive use and discontinuation for the five years preceding the survey were recorded in a monthly calendar. Single decrement life tables were used to calculate discontinuation rates. Descriptive analyses were used to assess reasons for discontinuation and method switching after discontinuation. A multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the likelihood of being a non-user in-need of contraception, a non-user not in-need of contraception, or a method switcher in the month after discontinuation, by sociodemographic and other characteristics. Results The 12-month discontinuation rate for all methods was 34.7%. Implants had the lowest one-year discontinuation rates (6.3%) followed by the intrauterine device (IUD) (18.4%) while higher rates were seen for daily pills (38%), injectables (32.7%), and condoms (62.9%). The most common reasons for discontinuation were reduced need (45.6%), method problems (30.1%), and becoming pregnant while using (10.0%). Only 17% of discontinuations were followed by use of another method; most often daily pills (5.2%) or injectables (4.2%). In the multivariate analysis, women with any formal education (primary, secondary or higher) were more than 50% more likely to switch methods than remain in need of contraception after discontinuation than women with no education or Koranic-only education (RRR = 1.59, p-value = 0.004; RRR = 1.55, p-value = 0.031). The likelihood of switching compared to being “in need” was also significantly higher for women who were married and who discontinued traditional methods. Conclusions To support increased contraceptive method use, women with no education and unmarried women are priorities for counseling and information about side effects and method switching at the time of method adoption.

The Urban Health Initiative (UHI) was initiated in 2009 with the goal of increasing family planning (FP) use among the poor in urban areas of Uttar Pradesh, India. The Measurement, Learning & Evaluation project (MLE) was tasked with rigorous impact evaluation of the UHI. This paper presents the impact evaluation findings of the UHI program.

Background The adolescent (ages 15–19) and young adult (ages 20–24) years are a crucial time as many sexual and reproductive health (SRH) transitions take place in these years. The study of youth SRH transitions in sub-Saharan Africa is limited due to a paucity of longitudinal data needed to examine the timing and circumstances of these transitions. Methods This paper uses recently collected longitudinal data from select urban areas in Kenya and Nigeria that include a large youth sample at baseline (2010/2011) and endline (2014). We control for unobserved heterogeneity in our modelling approach to correct for selectivity issues that are often ignored in similar types of analyses. Results We demonstrate that the transition patterns (i.e., sexual initiation, first marriage, and first pregnancy/birth) differ within and across the urban areas and countries studied. Urban Kenyan youth have more premarital sex and pregnancy than youth from the Nigerian cities. Further analyses demonstrate that more educated and wealthier youth transition later than their less educated and poorer counterparts. Conclusions The findings from this study can be used to inform programs seeking to serve young people based on their varying reproductive health needs in different contexts over the adolescent and young adult years.