Document Type
Report
Publication Date
2005
Abstract
The overall aim of this study was to inform the Ghana Health Service, USAID, and other partners involved in providing family planning services in Ghana about future directions that could be taken to reinvigorate the IUD within the context of a family planning service based on the principles of free and informed choice. The Health Research Unit conducted the study, with technical assistance from FRONTIERS and funding from USAID. The findings showed that the declining interest in and use of the IUD as a family planning method could be attributed to several factors, including negative perceptions and false beliefs about the method, the physical design of the technology, and fear of weight loss associated with its use. Other barriers apparently impeding IUD use are insufficient proactive demand creation for the method and an insufficient number of providers with practical experience of insertion and removal. Contrary to the findings in other countries where IUD use is low, this study found that providers in Ghana generally had favorable attitudes toward the product and were not biased against it in favor of other methods.
Recommended Citation
Osei, Ivy, John Gyapong, Monica Wanjiru, and Ian Askew. 2005. "An assessment of trends in the use of the IUD in Ghana: National results dissemination and utilization," FRONTIERS Final Report. Washington, DC: Population Council.
DOI
10.31899/rh4.1144
Language
English
Project
Frontiers in Reproductive Health
Included in
Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, International Public Health Commons, Women's Health Commons