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  • Title: Africa assessment.
    Author: Ojiambo J.
    Journal: Draper Fund Rep; 1984 Jun; (13):11-3. PubMed ID: 12339630.
    Abstract:
    The population problem in Africa is compounded by attitudes and traditions that favor large families. Children give status, and male children are desired to carry on the ancestral line because, dedpite women's dominance in agriculture, traditional education has inculcated male supremacy in African society. Traditional African attitudes equate having many children with male pride, social status, and security. For women, bearing children is in most instances the best and often the only way to achieve some status in their community. Education and modernization have begun to change these attitudes for a few people, particularly in urban settings, yet the desire for large families is deep rooted and remains widespread among African society. Declining infant mortality has had very little impact on fertility. Crude birthrates have changed little in the past 30 years, dropping only from 48 to 46/1000 population. The momentum of population growth is likely to continue as those under the age of 15, now almost half of Africa's population, grow into adults and start to have their own children. Despite the traditional influences on childbearing, powerful forces for change have been at work during the past decade. More and more governments are becoming acutely aware that many national problems are prompted or exacerbated by a rapidly growing population. The interaction between population and development is now well understood, and policy planners in Africa no longer take for granted the notion that development will help check population growth. Many African governments have initiated programs to ensure that more and better trained health personnel are bringing family planning information and services to rural areas, where pronatalist traditions are especially pervasive. 1 model for this approach is in Kenya where family planning services are now offered within the concept of "district focus." National family planning activities will be planned and implemented at the district level, providing a better opportunity for community understanding. Rural health centers will become key delivery points for family planning services. A successful pilot project is found at Ageng'a in Kenya's Busia district, where the community level family planning and primary health care program emphasizes integrated family services, shorter distances to service delivery points, and health and family planning education aimed at both the father and the mother. The key element of the project is the use of community-based health workers. As in other African nations, Kenya's National Family Planning Program requires more strengthening if it is to curb the population growth rate.
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