Malawi is among six countries in Africa which have registered a sharp increase in the access and use of contraceptives globally over the past 12 years.
This development is revealed in a key global Family Planning Measurement Report for 2023 launched recently (April 24, 2024) by FP2030, a United Nations foundation, in Washington DC, USA.
FP2030 is a global partnership working with governments, civil society, multilateral organisations, donors, the private sector and the research and development community enabling millions of women and girls to use contraceptives regardless of their location.
The report - - titled Meeting the Moment : Family Planning and Gender Equality- covers 85 countries, including all low and lower-middle income economies that have recently committed to the global partnership.
Burkina Fasso, Mozambique, Madagascar, Sierra Leone and Uganda are the five other countries to have achieved achieved the outstanding family planning feat.
The report points out that in the six countries, modern contraceptive prevalence (MCP) has risen by more than one percent per year since 2012, beating the average increase globally of 0.3 percent each year.
In launching the report in Washington DC, the managing director of FP2030 Dr. Samukeliso Dube commended the family planning uptake feat achieved in eastern, southern and western African countries.
"MCP has risen by more than 1 percentage point since 2012. These are remarkable achievements, especially amidst the challenges of stagnant funding and the lingering disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic," she stated.
Dr. Dube expressed happiness that the report documents success stories around contraceptive methods, including the emergence of implants as the most commonly used method in 11 countries and the second most commonly used method in another 16 countries, after only Burkina Fasso had been the sole nation in which the implants had been the commonly used method of modern contraception in 2012.
"This is a story of innovation, bold leadership, and responsiveness, and I hope to see more stories like this in the coming years: where what women want - a particular method that works with their lifestyles - is quickly scaled up and made available on a large scale.
"In this report, you'll hear more success stories: more people than ever before are using voluntary, rights-based contraception. You'll also learn more about the opportunities ahead.
The evidence is clear: we can meet this moment, but we must work together and foster mutual accountability toward tangible results, ultimately achieving universal access to rights-based family planning. It's time to rally for progress, to double down on what we've achieved so far and go even further. Women can't wait. Onward!" she declared.
Among other issues, the report highlights the fact that despite several challenges faced, this year's data illustrates the continued momentum of contraceptive growth and access to contraceptive services in many countries.
"There are just over one billion women of reproductive age (15-49) across the 85 reporting countries, and at the mid-point of 2023 an estimated 377 million of those women were using a modern method of contraception... Their use of modern contraception averted 141 million unintended pregnancies, 30 million unsafe abortions, and 141,000 maternal deaths in the last year alone," added the report.
It points out that the family planning developments are coming at a pivotal moment, with progress in contraceptive use juxtaposed against diminishing international aid and shifting political priorities. The number of women using modern contraception has grown by 92 million since the outset of this partnership in 2012, and modern contraceptive prevalence has increased to 35.2%. Countries with the lowest levels of contraceptive use a dozen years ago are now in the midst of a family planning boom, with other countries having successfully reinvigorated aging programmes, and highly effective, long-acting implants have become the method of choice across much of Africa.
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But the report highlights warning signs ahead, particularly as the population of contraceptive users is continuing to rise, but global funding for family planning is stagnant.
Adds the report: "Contraceptive
prevalence in some countries is plateauing at low levels despite a high percentage of women still wanting to limit or space births. Other countries are moving into a phase where continued progress will depend on serious investment in transforming gender norms and scaling up high impact practices."
