title: Estimating unmet need for contraception by district within Ghana: an application of small-area estimation techniques.
abstract: The importance of meeting the unmet need for contraception is nowhere more urgent than in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, where the fertility decline is stalling and total unmet need exceeds 30 per cent among married women. In Ghana, where fertility levels vary considerably, demographic information at sub-national level is essential for building effective family planning programmes. We used small-area estimation techniques, linking data from the 2003 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey to the 2000 Ghana Population and Housing Census, to derive district-level estimates of contraceptive use and unmet need for contraception. The results show considerable variation between districts in contraceptive use and unmet need. The prevalence of contraceptive use varies from 4.1 to 41.7 per cent, while that of the use of modern methods varies from 4.0 to 34.8 per cent. The findings identify districts where family planning programmes need to be strengthened.
authors.affiliation: Division of Social Statistics and Demography, Centre for Global Health, Population, Poverty and Policy, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK. faj100@soton.ac.uk
authors.forename: Fiifi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Amoako Johnson
authors.forename: Sabu S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Padmadas
authors.forename: Hukum
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chandra
authors.forename: Zoe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Matthews
authors.forename: Nyovani J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Madise
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003267:Contraception / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005193:Family Planning Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D055815:Young Adult