The demographic impact of the family planning--health services project in Matlab, Bangladesh.

This paper evaluates the demographic impact of the Family Planning-Health Services Project in Matlab Thana of rural Bangladesh. The project was begun by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh in October 1977. Contraceptive services--including pills, condoms, IUDs, sterilization, and injectables--are supplemented by oral rehydration, tetanus toxoid, and other services. About 33 percent of eligible couples are using contraception. Impact is evaluated by direct measurement of birth rates in the treatment and comparison areas. An overall fertility decline of about 25 percent is observed, concentrated among older women. The impact is two-to-three times that of an earlier project that included fewer methods and used lesser trained workers. The study shows that intensive family planning efforts can affect fertility in the absence of socioeconomic changes.