Socio-economic and Socio-cultural Factors Influencing Contraceptive Uptake among Women of Reproductive Age at Kahe Ward in Moshi, Kilimanjaro - Tanzania

Abstract

Family planning services play an important role in managing fertility; utilization of contraceptive in the United States is virtually universal among women of reproductive age: at least one contraceptive method had been used by over 98 percent of all women who had ever had intercourse. In 2010, 90 percent had ever had a partner who used the male condom, 82 percent had ever used the oral contraceptive pill, and 56 percent have had a partner who used withdrawal (Lindh, 2011). Generally, there has been an impressive increase in contraceptive prevalence in the entire world (Miano, 2014). Even in the Least Developed Countries (LDC), the fertility rate declined from 6.55 births per woman in the early 1950s to 4.53 in 2010 (Hukin, 2012). However, at the regional level, the progress in the efficiency of family planning program and in the range of contraceptive method used has been different. In fact, in 2013, investigations by Bhandari, Shrestha, & Thakuri, (2013) revealed that Africa and sub-Saharan Africa had the lowest contraceptive prevalence at 31 percent and 26 per cent, respectively, as compared to 75 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 65 percent in Asia (Baidoo, 2013). Thus, the statistics show that the use of modern methods in Africa and sub-Saharan Africa continues to be about one-third of the levels in the other two developing regions (Boamah, 2012). Differential in contraceptive prevalence is also distinguished at the sub-regional levels within each major area. For example, Northern and Southern Africa regions have much higher prevalence of all methods or of modern methods of contraception compared to any other African region (Heisler & Van Eron, 2012). Comparatively, utilization of modern methods of contraception is very low in Middle and Western Africa, 8 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively, in 2013 (Lemba, 2014). The number of people in need of health and education, among other public goods is large and increasing which in turn requires large amounts of resources, personnel and infrastructure. This is likely to be an impediment towards the realization of the reduction of child mortality, improvement of maternal health, achievement of universal primary education, environmental sustainability and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Therefore, the countries in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA)