FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 13, 2004

New Report Defines News Media's Role in Ensuring
Contraceptive Supplies Meet Demand

BALTIMORE — Supplies of contraceptives are not meeting increasing demand for those in the developing world wanting to plan their family size or protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV/AIDS. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that for every $1-million shortfall in contraceptive supply assistance, there are 360,000 unintended pregnancies, 800 maternal deaths, and 11,000 infant deaths. Nonetheless, the news media can play a crucial role in advocating for sufficient supplies, according to a new report.

The concept of ensuring sufficient supplies to meet public need and demand is known as “contraceptive security.” A first-of-its-kind workshop — held in September 2003 in Penang , Malaysia — brought together 87 participants from Bangladesh , Indonesia , Nepal , Pakistan , and the Philippines to discuss ways to encourage the media to advocate for adequate supplies of quality contraceptives and condoms. A just-released report, Media Advocacy for Contraceptive Security, details key findings and recommendations from the Asia regional workshop and an accompanying CD includes all the workshop presentations, reference documents, photos, and a participant contact list.

Supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the workshop was hosted by the Health Communication Partnership (HCP) in close collaboration with John Snow Inc.'s DELIVER Project, The Futures Group's POLICY Project, and Population Action International.

“Contraceptive security is about people,” said Alan Bornbusch, USAID's Contraceptive Security Team Leader. “Contraceptive security interventions must ensure people have the ability to secure, obtain, and use methods they need. We have not done our job when people are not getting supplies they need.”

Some key recommendations included meeting with local journalists and health officials to discuss the issue, staging media events, and journalist training sessions. Since the workshop, several media workshops have been held and more than forty articles have appeared in newspapers or on the web in each of the five participating countries. In Indonesia , a compilation of 50 articles related to contraceptive security that appeared after the workshop was published.

HCP is a global communication initiative based at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication Programs (CCP). In addition to CCP, HCP includes the Academy for Educational Development, Save the Children, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, and Tulane University 's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. HCP works with leading Southern-based health communication organizations as well as global programming partners from the corporate sector, international media, academic institutions, and faith-based organizations. For more information or to view the full report, visit www.hcpartnership.org .