Ms. Muttreja provided the example of the Indian government program MPV, which was launched five years ago in 140 districts. These locales had the highest fertility rates, high levels of gender inequality, and other poor indicators. Ms. Muttreja characterized the initiative as an effective and comprehensive UHC approach to family planning. Population Fund of India has also developed a soap opera to address social norms and behavior change. The program included a significant focus on family planning, among other topics.
What can we learn from the UNFPA investment studies?
To answer this question, Ms. Boldosser-Boesch invited Dr. Addico’s colleague, Howard Freidman, to respond. Investing in family planning is not only a human rights issue, but it makes good economic sense. UNFPA has partnered with different groups in-country to develop a tool to identify costs, impacts, and benefits of scaling up family planning services.