Family planning experts meet in Thailand as world population booms

Pattaya City, Thailand

Family planning experts, including scientists, policymakers and healthcare professionals, are once again meeting in Pattaya City, Thailand, to share research findings on sexual and reproductive health as the world’s population crosses the eight billion line.

The conference, which starts Monday and will run until the end of the week, is co-hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health.

The forum, with about 3,500 in-person and digital delegates, is also meant to highlight the role of political and financial leadership in increasing family planning access and options for people across the world. The event will allow delegates to engage with the latest science, advocacy and knowledge on family planning.

Kenya is one of the countries participating, with more than 60 presentations and posters and seven youth trailblazers attending the conference and many Kenyans moderating sessions.

Led by Heath Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha Wafula, who is among 13 African country ministers attending the event, will discuss sustainable financing for family planning.

Other renowned researchers include Dr Elizabeth Bukusi of the Kenya Medical Research Institute and author of My Body Is My Own: Measuring Sexual and Reproductive Empowerment among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Kenya.

Mr Michael Waithaka, a senior data analyst with the International Centre for Reproductive Health, will present on informed choice in the use of modern contraceptive methods among adolescents and young women in Kenya, while Dr Kenneth Bundi Miriti, Kilifi County reproductive health coordinator, will discuss the role of religious leaders in reproductive health messaging for young people at the congregational level to reduce teenage pregnancy.

This year’s theme is “Family Planning and Universal Health Coverage: Innovate, Collaborate, Accelerate”. The participants are expected to ensure that women have access to the methods that meet their needs while championing policies that foster the integration of family planning with other basic health services. 

Kenya has made notable strides in improving the uptake of modern contraceptives. In 2020, it attained a contraceptive prevalence of 61 per cent, surpassing the target of 58 per cent. 

Kenya has revised its target to 66 percent by 2030 and 70 percent by 2050 but is stuck at 61 per cent this year. It has been hit by implant, injectable, pill and male condom shortages in the last two years.

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, at least half of the world’s population could not obtain essential health services, family planning included, says the World Health Organization (WHO).

The pandemic diverted much-needed funding to the Covid-19 response, leaving health systems weaker and halting the expansion of family planning services.  

“The Covid-19 pandemic further exposed pre-existing social inequities in access to and use of essential family planning services around the world, and the economic and health consequences are more pronounced in low- and middle-income countries,” said Jose “Oying” G Rimon II, senior scientist and director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health and chair of the ICFP International Steering Committee.

“It’s a critical moment for us to convene as a global community not only to recognise its resilience amid the pandemic challenges but also to underscore the importance of investing in family planning and [taking] tangible actions to achieve universal health coverage.

Dr Anita Zaidi, president of the gender equality division at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said: “Our work is driven by our belief that a fairer future begins when women have access to good health care, economic opportunity, and a place at all decision-making tables.

“This future is only possible if women can control their own bodies and lives, which starts with family planning and the power to decide if, when and how many children to have. 

“That’s why investments in women's health, and especially in family planning, are fundamental to our work.”