Use of the World Health Organization's Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use Guidance in sub-Saharan African Countries: A Cross-Sectional Study.

ABSTRACT: Given recent updates to the postpartum contraception recommendations in the fifth edition of the Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (MEC), published by the World Health Organization (WHO), the purpose of this qualitative study was to assess the extent to which national family planning policies in sub-Saharan African countries are in agreement with the WHO MEC, particularly with regard to postpartum contraceptive use. WHO headquarters sent questionnaires to country-level focal points to complete with their Ministry of Health counterparts. Between February and May 2016, 23 of 32 (72%) surveys were completed. All respondents reported that their countries had used the MEC document in the past, with most reporting that they had used the guidance as a reference (n = 20, 87%), for

SUBMITTER: Chen MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5042704 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature