title: Population and family planning in Bangladesh.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The family planning programme (FPP) in Bangladesh and its role in reducing the fertility rate in the country has been at the centre of much scholarly debate. The current contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) is 61%- double the rate observed in Pakistan, while the total fertility rate is 2.3 children per woman. This paper highlights both the supply-and demand-side factors explaining trends in contraceptive use over the last four decades. It identifies the challenges plaguing the programme today that range from funding and staffing deficiencies to bottlenecks in procurement processes.
  
  
  METHODS
  The paper uses secondary data sources such as Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2004 and 2011 to show Family Planning trends in Bangladesh and uses the Spectrum software to forecast trends for the year 2015.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The central message is that the current contraceptive method mix, which is heavily biased towards temporary methods, cannot support a sustained decline in fertility. The authors' projected estimates reveal that in order to achieve replacement-level fertility by 2016, users of long-acting and permanent methods would need to be increased by 8-9 million. Drawing on global experiences, the paper outlines greater flexibility in the use of funds and a regionally-targeted approach, among other options, that could be adopted to ensure that national population targets are met.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Population, Urbanization, and Climate Change, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Peter Kim
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Streatfield
authors.affiliation: MEASURE Evaluation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Nahid
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kamal
mesh_terms: D001459:Bangladesh; D001723:Birth Rate / Q000639:trends; D003906:Developing Countries; D005193:Family Planning Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D011157:Population Dynamics