Connecting the Dots: Voluntary Family Planning, Population, and the Environment

Washington, DC - April 24, 2006

Millions of infant deaths can be avoided worldwide with better family planning, according to the authors of a study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association that demonstrates the benefits of birth spacing on infant health. Given the well-known positive effects of birth spacing on maternal health, along with women worldwide increasingly indicating their desire to control the timing and number of their children, PAI calls on the U.S. government to strengthen support of voluntary family planning programs by increasing funding and releasing them from onerous and unnecessary restrictions.

Access to voluntary family planning methods and reproductive health care not only directly impacts the lives of women and their families, but also helps shape the global dynamics of population growth, which play an important role in determining the current and future health of our planet. PAI’s publication, Mapping the Future of World Population, innovatively projects where the greatest changes in population density will take place in the next 20 years. In some instances, locations with large projected increases – such as areas of the Philippines, the northern end of the Bay of Bengal, and southern Louisiana and Florida – are those most at risk for devastating natural disasters.

The current projections, however, do not necessarily indicate destiny. As PAI President and CEO Amy Coen commented in a recent release, “This map gives us a glimpse into the future and the opportunity to create a healthier world while there is still time.” Increasing access to voluntary family planning will inevitably slow population growth in areas that currently experience a high unmet contraceptive need, including many of the areas at greatest risk for natural disasters. Moreover, decreasing the rate of population growth would ease the pressures on some of the earth’s scarcest natural resources.

Increased U.S. support for voluntary family planning would allow more women and their partners to plan and space their families. Access to voluntary family planning may not be the magic bullet for resolving all of our environmental problems, but its benefits are indisputable: Helping sustain the earth’s resources for future generations, while improving the quality of life for all.Millions of infant deaths can be avoided worldwide with better family planning, according to the authors of a study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association that demonstrates the benefits of birth spacing on infant health. Given the well-known positive effects of birth spacing on maternal health, along with women worldwide increasingly indicating their desire to control the timing and number of their children, PAI calls on the U.S. government to strengthen support of voluntary family planning programs by increasing funding and releasing them from onerous and unnecessary restrictions.

Population Action International (PAI) works to improve individual well-being and preserve global resources by mobilizing political and financial support for population, family planning and reproductive health policies and programs.