Factors Influencing the Growth of the Commercial Sector in Family Planning Service Provision

TLDR: In this paper, the commercial sector plays an important role in national family planning markets even in countries where contraceptive prevalence is low, and that commercial sector does not always develop coincidentally as prevalence grows or as the program matures.

Abstract: Using Demographic and Health Surveys data for 45 countries this paper demonstrates that the commercial sector plays an important role in national family planning markets even in countries where contraceptive prevalence is low and that the commercial sector does not always develop coincidentally as prevalence grows or as the program matures. It also examines three sets of factors to explain variations in commercial market share across countries namely: microeconomic or household factors macroeconomic or business climate factors and programmatic factors. Commercial market share for family planning is related to many factors. The cross-national analysis shows that broad-based purchasing power improved knowledge of reproductive health critical densities of population and appropriate public policy are each associated with relatively strong commercial sectors. This paper recommends that public health policymakers take steps to integrate the commercial sector into their programs by developing economic and policy environments supportive of its expansion. Factors for which key policy support may be able to generate increased use of the commercial sector for family planning are also identified.