Addis Ababa to host 3rd Int’l Conference on Family Planning

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (WIC) – The Ministry of Health announced that Addis Ababa will host the 3rd International Conference on Family Planning from November 12 – 15, 2013.

Ministry Public Relations and Communication Directorate Director Ahmed Emano told journalists on Monday that the conference, is expected to bring together over 4,000 health researchers, academicians, scientists, educators, implementers and policy makers.

The Ministry in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health is organizer of the conference to be held with the theme: “Full Access and Full Choice.”

According to him, Ethiopia was chosen to host the conference because of its strong commitment to family planning and the rapid progress witnessed in increasing access to family planning services. “It has enabled to accessing universal health care services for all, deployed over 35,000 community health workers and bringing health services to rural areas,” he added.

Citing the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey 2011 Report, Ahmed said that Ethiopia has registered 100 per cent increase in contraceptive prevalence rate, which increased from 14.7 per cent in 2005 to 29 per cent in 2011. The unmet need for family planning also declined from 34 per cent in 2005 to 25 per cent in 2011, resulting in a decline of the total fertility rate from 5.4 to 4.8 children, he added.

The conference will provide Ethiopia a unique platform to share its experiences for other countries, explore opportunities, and address unmet hurdles.

The 1st Conference was held in Kampala, Uganda in 2009, and the second in 2011 in Dakar, Senegal. (EP)