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  • Title: Growing confidence. Villagers in Ghana's IP pilot areas learn the power of self-help.
    Author: Mansa E.
    Journal: Integration; 1991 Sep; (29):35-7. PubMed ID: 12284291.
    Abstract:
    Initiated in 1987 in 9 pilot villages, Ghana's Integrated Family Planning, Nutrition and Parasite Control Project (IP) has succeeded in overcoming traditional opposition to family planning and increasing people's self-confidence. In Ghana, traditional beliefs have placed obstacles to contraceptive acceptance. A 1988 survey indicated that only 12.9% of all currently married women were using any contraceptive method, and only 5.2% were using a modern method. At the same time, the country has experienced a high level of fertility. The average Ghanaian woman will have 6.11 children by age 44. The annual population growth rate currently stands at 2.6% -- far above the government's goal of 2.0% by the year 2000. The IP, implemented by the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana with support from the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning, promotes family planning as part as a total effort to enhance maternal and child health. Discussion of family planning does not begin until the community's other concerns have been addressed. The program first focuses on parasite control. A dramatic sight, the process of deworming a child generally has a strong impact on the people's consciousness, alerting them to the need for better sanitation. The nutrition component of the program confronts problems such as malnutrition and diarrhea. By addressing parasite control and nutrition, IP workers gain the confidence of the community, making it easier to raise the issue of family planning. In 1987, the 9 pilot villages where the IP was begun registered a family planning acceptance rate of 17.4%. By 1990, rates ranged from 24.67%- 40.6%. IP workers attribute much of the increase to the people's growing confidence in their own capabilities and resources.
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