Family Planning as an Economic Investment Strategy

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report in Special English. The United Nations Population Fund says greater access to family planning methods would save developing countries more than $11 billion a year. A new UN report says the savings would come from reduced costs of care for mothers and newborn babies. The "State of World Population 2012" report was released in November. It says over 200 million women in the developing world cannot get birth control or other family planning services. It says $4 billion a year could provide these women with reproductive information to reduce unplanned pregnancies or unsafe abortions. The report says about $2 billion a year would provide enough contraceptives to meet the needs of developing countries. The report says increased access to family planning is a good economic investment. It says having fewer children has been beneficial for rich countries in Europe and North America. The UN Population Fund says one-third of the growth of Asia's "tiger" economies is the result of increased use of family planning services. Sub-Saharan Africa has some of the biggest unmet needs for family planning services. The report says modern contraceptives are not widely available in countries such as Chad and Niger. But contraceptives are not enough. There are social, political and legal barriers that prevent access to birth control. In many cultures, women are encouraged to have large families and to avoid or limit the use of contraceptives.The Population Fund says family planning helps countries reduce poverty. A recent study said Nigeria's economy would grow by at least $30 billion dollars if the fertility rate fell by just one child per woman in the next 20 years. For VOA Learning English, I'm Laurel Bowman. (Adapted from a radio program broadcast 21Nov2012)