Sri Lanka: sterilization bonus announced in Sri Lanka; new CBD experiments in Sri Lanka; orchids and family planning

The government of Sri Lanka will give a minimum bonus of SRs 100 ($US6.00) to anyone voluntarily being sterilized. Women will be given 7 days leave and men 3. Many public and private corporations pay sterilization bonuses; the new bonus was set to compete with generous maternity benefits. The average daily wage is about SRs 120. Currently the demand for sterilization is greater than the health services' ability to meet it. Depo-provera is becoming increasingly popular in Sri Lanka, especially among the Muslim communities. The Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka is to test new forms of social marketing of contraceptives to provide wider coverage through community-based distribution. One system will use the route of a commercial firm, Reckitt and Coleman Ltd., and another system will use a network of provincial organizers, commission agents, and local retailers. To create an awareness in young people of their responsibility toward society the Family Planning Association organized an orchid cultivation and family planning propaganda project. 40 young boys are being taught orchid culture and the benefits of family planning. Orchids can be grown in the back yard without any capital investment. There is a steady market for the orchids, and the training program lasts 6 months for each cohort of boys.     

Sri Lanka: current status of family planning

In Sri Lanka the family planning program is closely related to socioeconomic and cultural variables. The expectation is that in the near future family planning will be included as a component of a network of social services. The official program is a response to the economic necessities and welfare demands of individuals and families. The method of family planning most frequently requested is female sterilization, and no attempts are being made to direct people to other methods. 12 United Nations Fund for Population Activities assisted projects have provided the framework and basis for the institutional coverage of family planning activities in Sri Lanka. However, the experience of these projects revealed a lack of facilities, shortage of personnel and management inadequacies, all related to the delivery of family planning services. The following steps are suggested as a means of overcoming the current problems and expanding the program: 1) establish a pattern of interacting relationship between the mass media, community health education and the available services; 2) provide an operational approach to program management, monitoring and periodic reviews of the program; 3) involve the private sector health facilities; and 4) incur additional capital cost to increase the capacity for delivery of better health facilities and personnel.     

A note on differential fertility in Sri Lanka

In this paper an attempt has been made to study differential fertility by urban-rural and regional classifications, using data obtained from complete tabulations of the 1963 Census of Population, the four rounds of the Socio-Economic Survey conducted from November 1969 to October 1970, and the Registrar General's Department. The analysis of current fertility indicates that the traditional pattern of lower urban fertility relative to rural held true in both 1963 and 1970 and also shows a narrowing of the differentials. The country was divided into four zones on an agro-climatic basis for regional analysis. A consistent ranking of the zones in relation to current fertility emerges in both 1963 and 1970. Changing patterns of age-specific fertility and age-specific marital fertility are discussed. Data on average size of family by urban-rural and regional classifications are also analyzed. An attempt has also been made to identify some of the possible causes for the differentials observed.     

Aging of population and elderly care in Sri Lanka

"The main purpose of this paper is...to examine the trends [and] characteristics of the elderly population [in Sri Lanka] and to inquire into the status of elderly support and care.... There is considerable evidence to show that [the] mechanisms of family support and care of the elderly have weakened. There is an increasing demand for institutional support by the elderly. This paper attempts to identify some of the underlying reasons that have prompted the elderly to make the decision to move out of the family kinship network and seek institutional support."     

Young women's work and family formation in Sri Lanka

"Patterns of family formation in Sri Lanka resemble those of wealthier nations, with late marriage, delayed childbearing, and moderately low fertility. This article addresses two questions: How have these family formation patterns emerged in the absence of the normally expected levels of economic development? And what activities have occupied young women in the premarital, prechildbearing period? Answers are suggested by data from three sources: the 1981 census; a set of focus-group discussions on the rights, obligations, and aspirations of young women related to marriage, work, childbearing, and child care; and a sample survey of 1,535 women of ages 15-30 in Kalutara District. The article describes the interplay of socioeconomic and familial forces that have affected the status of young Sri Lankan women."     

Determinants of contraceptive switching behavior in rural Sri Lanka

This study examines the influence of a selected set of determinants of contraceptive method switching in rural Sri Lanka. Of interest is the question of how change in contraceptive practice at the individual level can account for patterns observed at the aggregate level. Based on calendar data on contraceptive use over a 3-year period, collected for more than 3,000 married women in a 1986 survey, the multivariate analysis shows that women who attain all or a significant proportion of their desired fertility tend to switch to more effective methods. Women who experience method failure tend to switch methods, usually to a type that is more effective. The woman's background determinants of age and education have small but significant effects on method switching, whereas the effect of household economic well-being is not significant. There is strong indication that rural couples are practicing contraception in a nonrandom fashion, switching methods in accordance with changes in their fertility motivations and contraceptive experience.     

Controlling population growth in Sri Lanka: perceptions,policies and strategies

Sri Lanka has been an oft-cited example in the demographic literature of developing countries over the past 4 decades. Despite its low level of per capita income, Sri Lanka has managed to achieve the lowest level of fertility in South Asia. Sri Lanka's population policies, especially with regard to fertility, have been rated as strong by some writers. The evolution of policies on population growth in Sri Lanka is described in the following sections: the problem of population growth, strategies for controlling population growth, the period of indirect government participation from 1948 to 1965, policy change during 1965-77, 1977 as the beginning of a new era of increasing government commitment to domestic population polices, and strategy changes from 1989 onwards. During this current, most recent, phase of population policy in Sri Lanka, the government has focused upon satisfying the demand for various family planning methods, demand which has been created by a well-promoted fertility control program during the preceding phases of policy implementation. Greater emphasis is simultaneously being given to improving reproductive health.     

Family planning in Malta

The crude birth rate has dropped dramatically in Malta¹ over the post-war period, from 36·0 per 1,000 population in 1948 to 17·1 in 1971. A drop of this magnitude is not uncommon² although it rarely occurs so fast.     

Family planning in Malta

Abstract The crude birth rate has dropped dramatically in Malta(1) over the post-war period, from 36·0 per 1,000 population in 1948 to 17·1 in 1971. A drop of this magnitude is not uncommon(2) although it rarely occurs so fast.     

Family planning in Africa

The population growth rates and population policies and programs in African countries are summarized. Individual attention is given to Algeria, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Tanzania, Gabon, Zaire, Botswana and the Republic of South Africa. In addition, cultural and educational obstacles to family planning programs in Africa are briefly examined.     

Family planning in India]

India, one of the 1st countries to develop family planning, had a 19.9% decline in its birth rate from 1965-80. This, however, is not adequate in degree or speed. India's 1st private family planning clinic was established in 1925. A government sponsored family planning clinic was built 5 years later. By the early 1950s, governmental support for family planning included 6 5-year plans (1951-83), the target of which was to limit the birth rate to 25/1000 by 1984, and 21/1000 by 2001. A mortality rate of 9/1000 by 2001 was also targeted. By 1979, there were 51,972 Health Centers and Stations in rural areas, all manned by 2-3 physicians, and 50-80 support staff. In urban areas, there were over 1900 family welfare centers. But these do not meet the needs of the entire populace. As early as the 1950s incentives were given to those practicing birth control (e.g., free birth control operations, or priority in housing and jobs). A system of fines was instituted in 1976 for those refusing to participate in family planning, resulting in an increased use of contraceptives. For the years 1956-81, 80,000,000 women used some form of birth control. The percentage of married women practicing birth control jumped from 12% in 1970 to 28% in 1981. Of those successful in family planning, 20.2% were sterilized. But the rate of effective use of birth control varies greatly from area to area, ranging from 1% to 35%. Family planning work in India is hindered by a complex political system, religious beliefs, traditional customs, and illiteracy. By 2000, India's population might increase by 40% to 961,000,000.     

A hazards-Model analysis of the covariates of infant and child mortality in Sri Lanka

The purpose of this paper is twofold: (a) to provide a complete self-contained exposition of estimating life tables with covariates through the use of hazards models, and (b) to illustrate this technique with a substan-tive analysis of child mortality in Sri Lanka, thereby demonstrating that World Fertility Survey data are a valuable source for the study of child mortality. We show that life tables with covariates can be easily estimated with standard computer packages designed for analysis of contingency tables. The substantive analysis confirms and supplements an earlier study of infant and child mortality in Sri Lanka by Meegama. Those factors found to be strongly associated with mortality are mother’s and father’s education, time period of birth, urban/rural/estate residence, ethnicity, sex, birth order, age of the mother at the birth, and type of toilet facility.     

Family planning and fecundity

Abstract A computerized probability model of family-building, FERMOD, is described and then utilized in an investigation of relations between family planning and fecundity as applying to white couples of the contemporary United States. Models of this type that formulate reproductive performance as a stochastic process permit one to explore relations that are not directly observable and in this manner to secure at least partial answers to questions not subject to investigation by survey research alone. Two main questions are addressed concerning the dependence of family planning success upon fecundity: (1) How quickly does spacing control deteriorate when natural fecundability is taken at progressively lower values or when the risk of pregnancy wastage is set at progressively higher values? (2) What is the distribution of unsought births among couples of average fecundity when they practise contraception with specified effectiveness and have stipulated spacing and family size goals?     

Family planning for refugees

In response to a recent influx of Vietnamese refugees and their settlement in Kai Tak camp the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK) promoted family planning and supplied contraceptives. FPAHK field workers organized film shows and talks on family planning on 3 consecutive days for 4000 refugees. Most of the refugees were transferred to the Shamshuipo camp to await resettlement in foreign countries. The FPAHK have begun recruiting acceptors in that camp.     

Family planning and fertility in Tunisia

The crude birth rate for the Tunisian population in 1967–68 is estimated to be about ten percent lower than in 1961–65 although the rates are subject to a wide margin of error. Unless the birth registration system is becoming steadily worse or unless the Tunisian population has been decreasing in size, however, the birth rate has fallen; births registered in 1967 or in 1968 were fewer in number than births registered in 1964, 1965, or 1966. The downturn in the crude birth rate occurred shortly after an official national family planning program was inaugurated. Estimates of births averted by contraceptive use, however, suggest that only about one third of the decrease in the rate could be attributed to accomplishments of the program. Occurring at the same time were changes in the age structure which led to smaller numbers of women in the peak reproductive ages and changes in the social status of women which included a sharp reduction in the proportion married in the age group 15–19.     

Coastal settlement patterns and exposure to sea-level rise in the Jaffna Peninsula,Sri Lanka

The Jaffna Peninsula in Sri Lanka has a generally flat topography with a median elevation of 2.72 m, and thus faces a high risk from sea-level rise that has the potential to have adverse impacts on the livelihoods of coastal communities. Understanding these risks and identifying the regions that could be adversely impacted is critical for planning future settlements and developing preventative protocols where possible. The aim of this study was to analyze the exposure of coastal settlements of the Jaffna Peninsula to climate risks, particularly to sea-level rise, and to identify the areas that are likely to be impacted under different sea-level rise scenarios. Raster-based sea-level rise modeling was performed with a digital elevation model produced with topographic contours and spot heights. The spatial distribution of individual residential houses for the entire Jaffna Peninsula was obtained through manual digitization using virtual globe platforms and high-resolution satellite images, and the houses exposed to inundation under various Representative Concentration Pathways from 2025 to 2100 were identified. The results showed that a majority (55.5%) of the residential buildings in the Jaffna Peninsula are located within 3 m above sea level. Approximately 5554 (5.6%) of the houses were projected to be inundated by 2100, and this projection increased to approximately 25,074 (25.4%) under high tide scenarios. This study highlights the coastal communities with a high level of exposure to coastal inundation where adaptation planning is essential. These results provide insights for coastal managers and policy makers for future planning of new settlements and urban expansion.

     

Family planning among the Maranaos

An effort has been made to introduce population education concepts and family planning practice to the Maranaos of Lanao del Sur province in the southern Philippines. A survey conducted in 1969 revealed that an overwhelming majority were opposed to family planning, because of the belief that it ran counter to the teachings of the Koran. In 1969, Dansalan College 1st opened a maternity clinic and, subsequently, established a family planning clinic on campus, the only one of its kind in the province. Since the clinic began operations, a total of about 1370 acceptors have been recruited. The oral contraceptive is the most preferred method among the acceptors, accounting for 60%, followed by the injectable. Additionally, the college has integrated family planning and population education into its Community Service Program. Despite several years of effort by Dansalan College, however, Maranaos have failed to respond significantly to practicing family planning. College officials continue to be optimistic, recognizing that the effort will take years of motivating and education.     

Family planning operations research in the Philippines

This essay introduces an issue of the Philippine Population Journal dedicated to the presentation of the results of operations research (OR) studies undertaken for the Philippine Family Planning (FP) Program as part of a program coordinated by the Population Council which seeks to improve FP services. The concept of OR was introduced to program managers and researchers at two workshops held in 1992. Five of the seven diagnostic proposals developed during these workshops were funded and are covered in this Journal. The results of earlier OR studies conducted under the sponsorship of the UN Population Fund are also included. The concept of OR was developed to provide managers with timely answers to their everyday problems through appropriate research. OR forces social scientists to overcome prejudices against this kind of applied research and forces program managers to learn to rely on research findings instead of on hunches. OR also forces both parties to work as a team. An important intent of this Journal is to encourage the dialogue which must precede the institutionalization of OR and to indicate to social scientists and program managers that OR has a personal relevance to their work. The research reported in this Journal will contribute to the building of theories through the many convergences in the conclusions reached about such issues as home visits, suboptimal clinic conditions, inadequate provision of FP information, and the role of outreach workers.