| Abstract: | The results of a community-based contraceptive distribution program using village women canvassers in Cheju Island province, Korea, are evaluated. This rural province had the highest fertility and lowest contraceptive use before the project began. After pre-testing in another area, township-level family planning field workers recruited 365 new female canvassers per 150 women at risk of pregnancy, compared to 10,000-25,000 per worker in the previous scheme. The canvassers were to contact every household, offering them pills or condoms, or vouchers for an IUD or sterilization from the clinic. The former target system, which in reality had limited the numbers of acceptors, was suspended, necessitating an increase in budget outlays for family planning in Cheju province. By 1985 the contraceptive prevalence had doubled, and fertility fell 40.1 and 32.4% in the 2 Cheju counties. Costs per couple-year for the Cheju program were lower than those in other areas. The results of this project suggested that increasing the number of community workers or canvassers in rural areas helps reduce barriers to the use of contraceptives. |
