FP as a critically important intervention to achieve the MDGs Malcolm Potts MB, BChir, PhD, FRCOG University of California, Berkeley

“The evidence is overwhelming, the MDGs are difficult or impossible to achieve with the current levels of population growth in the least developed countries and regions ” - All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health

58,000 pupils in school BUT 11,000 more pupils each day in Pakistan & Afghanistan

MDG 3: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and at all levels of education not later than 2015.

TFR 2 per. Mov. Avg. (TFR- Iran) 2 per. Mov. Avg. (TFR- China) Voluntary FP One-child policy Voluntary family planning When barriers are removed, family size falls

Iran: number of university students by sex

MDG 6: to halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by The incidence of new HIV infections is falling in India. No country in the Middle East and Asia is going to have a self sustaining heterosexual epidemic.

MDG 7: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources.

Cost Verses Tonne of Carbon Averted

Investment in family planning is highly cost- effective India

Malcolm add your title here: Global Health Money is not spent rationally….

“Meeting the unmet need for family planning has been highly successful in slowing rapid population growth. Ready access to contraception and safe abortion has decreased family size, even in illiterate communities living on less than a dollar a day.”

Yemen The ultimate population size depends on when the country reaches replacement fertility : TFR = 4.65

“ There is an intrinsic link between the challenge we face to ensure food security through the 21st century and other global issues, most notably climate change, population growth and the need to sustainably manage the world ’ s rapidly growing demand for energy and water. It is predicted that by 2030 the world will need to produce 50 per cent more food and energy, together with 30 per cent more available fresh water, whilst mitigating and adapting to climate change. This threatens to create a ‘ perfect storm ’ of global events. ” John Beddington, UK Government Chief Scientist ry. The Perfect Storm