Abstract
The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) in Ethiopia is committed to enhancing the reproductive health (RH) status of women, men, and young people of Ethiopia, particularly by continuing to increase access to quality family planning (FP) services and expand the market for contraceptives across public and private sectors. The USAID | DELIVER PROJECT works with the FMOH and other partners to strengthen the country’s family planning program by helping to ensure that contraceptives are available when and where customers need them through support of the country’s comprehensive Reproductive Health Commodity Security Strategy.
According to the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS), between 1990 and 2011, total fertility in Ethiopia declined from 6.4 to 4.8 births per woman (CSA 2012a). Furthermore, the use of contraceptive methods among women in union or those who are sexually active has increased nearly sixfold in the last 11 years, from 7 percent in 2000 to 14 percent in 2005 to 28 percent in 2011 (CSA 2001a, 2006a, 2012a).1 These are significant achievements by any standard, though the current fertility rate and unmet need for family planning still remain high. Further, population growth remains around 2.6 percent annually, making Ethiopia Africa’s second-most-populous country with an estimated population of 88 million in 2011 (US Census, 2013).
As a result of these demographic changes, today, more people are part of the economic productive age group (15‒64 years) than are in the group of dependents (under 15 years and over 64 years). This is a unique window for Ethiopia to achieve a healthier population, economic growth, prosperity, and security as a middle-income country (World Bank, 2013). By continuing to fuel uptake in family planning use and other health services among this productive segment of the population, men and women will experience fewer maternal and infant mortalities, and, overall, be better equipped to pursue additional training and education, contribute to the workforce, and make a more significant contribution to overall productivity and development. In other words, expanding the family planning market will be a key strategy for fueling the country’s “demographic transition or dividend”2 and meeting Ethiopia’s health and development goals.
The FMOH in Ethiopia is committed to strengthening the family planning market to take advantage of this development opportunity. As part of its overall effort to strengthen FP across all sectors (public and private), the FMOH, through its Family Planning Technical Working Group (FPTWG), decided to examine the contraceptive market to identify gaps in access and use—including among socioeconomic groups, age, region, education, and other characteristics.
