CONTRACEPTIVE USE EXPANDING BUT NOT FAST ENOUGH: Report

According to the FP2020 Commitment to Action 2014-2015 Progress Report, although an additional 24.4 million women and girls now have access to modern methods of contraception, this is 10 million fewer than the benchmark for 2015 projected at the time of the London summit.

"To achieve the FP2020 goal, India must increase the number of users of modern methods of contraception so that a greater proportion of all women and girls of reproductive age are served," said Poonam Muttreja, executive director of PFI.

She said offering more types of modern methods in family planning programs would result in higher percentages of contraceptive use.

"Each additional one percent increase in the modern contraceptive prevalence rate can translate to 3.3 million additional women and help achieve FP2020's goal and enable 120 million more women and girls to use contraceptives by 2020," said Muttreja, who is also a reference group member of FP2020.

There are nine other countries that need to increase modern contraceptive rates, including Pakistan and the Philippines.

Reports say the total global family planning expenditure is approximately US$12 per modern contraceptive user per year.

Almost half of expenditures occur in just five countries - Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Egypt, and Bangladesh - which account for 70 percent of modern contraceptive users among the FP2020 focus countries.