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 The Herald, May 12, 1984  

A NATIONAL survey on the use of contraceptives in Zimbabwe has been launched by the Child Spacing and Family Planning Council, the programme co-ordinator and operations manager, Dr Esther Boohene, said yesterday.  

The US Agency for International Development has given about $250 000 towards the survey, which will help the council to evaluate its operations and plan its future.  

Dr Boohene said that the first stage of the survey, which started in February had been completed.  

It covered interviews with 35 000 households on the number of children each family had, their educational status, age, income and occupation.  

The second stage, beginning in July, would interview women in the same areas about their use of contraceptives, and about breast-feeding, fertility and utilisation of health services.  

The last stage, towards the end of the year, would cover men and their views on family planning.  

The Central Statistical Office has helped train the 57 enumerators temporarily hired to conduct the survey, and it was now supervising the operation.  

An American company, Westinghouse Health Systems, was giving technical assistance.  

Dr Boohene said, “For many years, we have been trying to motivate and educate people to make responsible decisions on child spacing. We now want to find out whether we have changed attitudes and if not, why?”  

The survey, which should be completed by early next year, would find out how many Zimbabweans were practising family planning and what methods they used. 

It would also discover how many people needing family planning services were not getting them, and what type of family planning services people would like. 

LESSONS FOR TODAY  

 • The availability of family planning services allows individuals to achieve desired birth spacing and family size, and contributes to improved health outcomes for infants, children, women and their families.  

•  Knowing the right questions to ask about family planning or questions about family planning methods is a must for couples who are entertaining the idea of starting a family.  

• The best family planning advice would not only answer your questions, but would also help you identify new ones.  

•  It is important for every sexually active adult to consider and discuss family planning or birth control issues. 

This is not only for the purpose of preventing unwanted pregnancies, but also to plan the timing of conception for wanted pregnancies.  

• The average distance to a reproductive health facility in some rural areas is larger than that of urban areas which makes access to services for rural women without transportation or funds extremely difficult.