Reproductive Health and Family Planning Services in Africa: Looking beyond Individual and Household Factors

Abstract

Worldwide, there have been remarkable gains in the provision and utilization of reproductive health and FP services. However, in Africa, despite increasing availability, utilization of these services is less than 50%, even though there are wide variations among and within the countries across the continent. Articles from peer-reviewed journals, technical reports, Internet articles, grey literature (official government documents, technical reports, etc.) and Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) reports were used as resource materials. Manual search of reference list of selected articles was done for further relevant materials. We also used for comparative analysis, the online StatCompiler tool (https://www.statcompiler.com/en/) to extract data. Reproductive health and contraceptives have a lot of benefits to the individual, family and community. However, despite near universal knowledge and availability of reproductive health and FP services in Africa, utilization of these services is less than optimal. Several factors operating at individual, household and within the community influence utilization of services. These factors are the cause of poor maternal health and care that might hinder population health and the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Interventions to promote and sustain utilization of services should target these factors at different levels depending upon relative role/s of these factors.