1 The health and development benefits of Family Planning: Implications for Kenya of New findings from the Lancet and other studies Violet I. Murunga, James Ciera and Nyokabi R. Musila Presented at the Population Association of Kenya, 4 th Population Conference Nairobi, Kenya (October 23-25, 2012)

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Benefits of FP in SSA and Kenya 1.Family planning averts maternal deaths In 2008, family planning averted 88,227 death in Africa (32%), and 6,172 in Kenya (52%) – without contraceptive use, the number of global maternal deaths would have been 1.8 times higher than reported (614,000 relative to 342,203) Meeting unmet need for family planning would save an 29% of deaths globally and in Sub-Saharan Africa

CPR(%)Maternal deaths Maternal deaths averted % of maternal deaths averted (%) World ,203272,04044·3 Developed75.01,0381,57860·3 Developing ,165270,46144·2 SSA ,06288,22731·9 Kenya44.45,6596,17252·2 South Africa62.12,4093,40258·5 Ghana22.32,8241,55435·5 Niger11.76,0701,70721·9 Source: Ahmed S, Li Q, Lui L. and Tsui A. The Lancet (2012) Global and regional statistics on maternal deaths averted in 2008 by contraceptive use

Benefits … 2.Family Planning can reduce the risk of child death If births were spaced at least two years apart – Deaths among children infants under one year old would decline by 10% – Deaths among children aged 1-4 would decline by 20% – Deaths under five years would decline by 13% If birth intervals are at least 3 years, there would be 25% less deaths of children younger than five

Benefits … 3. FP is a Cost-effective Investment $1.0 spent to meet all contraceptive needs, in developing regions, would save $1.40 in costs of maternal & newborn health care. In Sub Saharan Africa the saving is about $1.00 to $1.30 – In 2012, costs of modern contraceptive use is $576 million, resulting in savings of $749 million – If all current unmet need is met, total costs of modern contraception would be $2.9 billion per year year, yielding savings of $3.8 billion Source: Adding It Up – Guttmacher Institute and UNFPA 6

Investing in family planning over a period of 10 years could lead to savings in the cost of providing maternal and child health care in Kenya Source: Health Policy Initiative (2006)

4. Family planning helps slow reduce unwanted fertility and slow down rapid population growth Increase of 15% in contraceptive use is generally associated with a reduction of one child in fertility. FP program can reduce Fertility by up to 1.5 Children per Woman over the childbearing cycle (Matlab Bangladesh study). 8 Benefits …

5.FP helps reduce child dependency burden and increase working age population and economic productivity – Currently, 42% of Kenyans are aged under 15 years. – A decrease in child mortality and fertility will decrease the dependent population (children). – The created bulge of youth will lead to an increase in working group age population. – Family planning empowers women and allows them to participate in economic activities more – With appropriate investments in human capital, the youth bulge will herald demographic bonus which would hit its peak in the next few decades.

Benefits … 6. Family planning helps enhance environmental preservation. Rapid population growth contributes to depletion of natural resources such as forests and water resources Rapid Population growth also leads to fragmentation and overuse of agricultural land – Meeting the unmet need for contraception in Kenya alongside implementing effective climate change adaptation policies would help mitigate the adverse environmental effects of rapid population growth.

Rapid population growth is compounding effects of climate change and undermining the capacity of communities to adapt to its adverse effects and fight poverty

Population growth and climate change hotspots

Conclusion The findings clearly demonstrates the importance of FP in promoting health and development and environmental preservation. More commitment is needed to promote family planning as well as the integration of family planning and population dynamics in other development sectors.

Presenting the Malawi Report to the Vice President & the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Management

Thank You 17