LAHORE, May 20: Researchers have estimated that the 'unmet need' for family planning is around 37 per cent in Pakistan and less than 20 per cent in India and Bangladesh.

This was stated by Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) specialist Dr Akhtar Ali while conducting a training workshop for master trainers including doctors, councillors and service providers of the Family Planning Association of Pakistan from across the country.

The five-day workshop, being conducted in a local hotel as part of association's Community-Based Reproductive Health Extension Project, will conclude on Friday (today).

Explaining the 'unmet need for family planning', Dr Ali said that 24 per cent of women in Pakistan wanted to have no more children while 13 per cent wanted to delay the next pregnancy, but their need for family planning services was not met due to low contraceptives prevalence (CPR).

He said although the ability of women to control their health and fertility was central to their empowerment, a range of socio-cultural, structural, economic and programmatic barriers limited Pakistani women's access to necessary primary and reproductive health care services. As a result, Pakistan registered some of the worst health indicators in Asia, particularly with regard to women's health.

He observed that there were substantial differences in the CPR in urban areas where it was as high as 36 per cent, and rural, peri-urban and semi-urban areas where it was as low as 18 per cent, over a third of which reflected use of traditional methods. This disparity reflected both differences in access to services and differences in the accepted or expected role of women.

He said there was a substantial gap between knowledge of family planning and access to or use of contraceptive methods. According to studies, between 78 and 91 per cent of married women of the reproductive age knew of at least one modern method of contraception, but only half of them could identify a source of family planning services.