Accessibility and Use of Family Planning Information (FPI) by Rural People in Kilombero District, Tanzania

Abstract

This study investigated the accessibility and use of family planning information (FPI) by rural people in Kilombero District, Tanzania. The purpose was to examine the entire infrastructure required for accessing and using FPI in a rural setting. The study surveyed 120 respondents using questionnaire, interview protocols and observation guides. The respondents included women and men of reproductive age, and Maternal and Child Health (MCH) clinic staff. The study revealed that there is inadequate knowledge of various family planning methods (FPMs) and limited access and use of FPI. The situation is caused by ignorance, inconsistent availability of FPMs, few staff with limited training, inaccessibility of family planning services (FPS) and patriarchal gender relations. Furthermore, the study found that rural communities access FPI through radio and MCH clinic staff. The study concludes that the surveyed rural communities are disadvantaged in accessing and using FPI. It recommends that there should be provision of more health facilities in rural areas, training of MCH clinic staff, raising public awareness of family planning, ensuring constant availability of all FPMs, provision of family planning education in schools and provision of necessary facilities needed for effective dissemination of FPI in the rural settings. Keywords Familyplanninginformation, information access,rural communities Introduction Rapid population growth is of major concern worldwide. Every twelve or thirteen years, another billion people are added to the world’s population, majority of them from developing countries (Brown et al., 1999). Although fertility levels are falling in many parts of the world, rapid population growth remains a critical issue in most developing countries where needs are great and resources are scarce (Upadhyay and Robey, 1999). The population of Tanzania has almost tripled in 35 years. It has grown from 12, 313,469 persons in the first postindependence census held in 1967 to 34,569,232 persons counted in the census held in August 2002, with the population growth rate of 2·9% (WorldBank, 2003; United Republic of Tanzania, 2003). It is estimatedthat Tanzania’s population will growto 35.4 million in 2010 despite the effects of Acquired Immune-Deficiency Syndrome [AIDS] (United Nations Population Division, 2005). In Tanzania, 74% of the population live in rural areas (World Bank, 1999). It is in the rural areas that the population is still growing at a higher rate amidst poor social and GRACE E. P. MSOFFE AND ELIZABETH KIONDO 118 economic infrastructure support. Consequences of population growth can potentially restrain investments in human capital and provision of services that are important towards fulfilment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The government of Tanzania recognises the importance of family planning to the welfare of its people. The government through its public funded health clinics and also in partnership with a number of non-profit organisations such as Family Planning Association of Tanzania (UMATI) and Marie Stoppes Clinics have worked tirelessly to promote family planning and reproductive health. Despite the efforts, fertility rate has remained high at 6.3 children per woman (United Republic of Tanzania, 1997; Speizer et al., 2000). The situation is caused by low use of FPMs, especially in rural areas (Chen & Guilkey, 2003).