Abstract
Family planning is still an area that excites controversy, but there is clear evidence of a strong demand for family planning services. The population of Kenya, for example, doubles every 18 years and the total fertility rate of the Earth's population is still twice that required to maintain present numbers. Successful family planning programmes are discussed and it is shown that they all have certain factors in common: they are widespread, cheap, provide a range of methods, encourage long periods of breastfeeding and address the problems of unsafe abortion. Various policies and management structures are reviewed, as are the costs and cost effectiveness of family planning. Finally the relationships between family planning and economic progress, demographics, ecology, cultural and religious traditions and other factors are discussed.
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