On the sustainability of a family planning program in Nigeria when funding ends

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 14; no. 9; p. e0222790
• Main Authors: Speizer, Ilene S, Guilkey, David K, Escamilla, Veronica, Lance, Peter M, Calhoun, Lisa M, Ojogun, Osifo T, Fasiku, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 26.09.2019; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Biology and Life Sciences; Communication; Contraception Behavior - statistics & numerical data; Contraceptives; Couples; Econometrics; Engineering and Technology; Exposure; Family planning; Family Planning Services - organization & administration; Female; Health Plan Implementation; Humans; Intervention; Longitudinal Studies; Marriage; Maternal & child health; Medicine and Health Sciences; Middle Aged; Nigeria; People and Places; Physical Sciences; Population; Program Evaluation; Public health; Reproduction; Reproductive health; Reproductive Health - statistics & numerical data; Reproductive systems; Research and Analysis Methods; Sex Education - organization & administration; Sex Education - statistics & numerical data; Social Sciences; Socioeconomic Factors; Studies; Sustainability; Systematic review; Teenagers; Urban Population - statistics & numerical data; Womens health; Young Adult; Young adults; Nigeria; United States > US; Africa; India
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222790
• ISSN: 1932-6203

Few studies have examined the sustainability of family planning program outcomes in the post-program period. This article presents the results of a natural experiment where the Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative Phase I programming ended in early 2015 and Phase II activities continued in a subset of cities. Using data collected in 2015 and 2017, we compare contraceptive ideation and modern family planning use in two cities: Ilorin where program activities concluded in 2015 and Kaduna where program activities continued. The results demonstrate that exposure to program activities decreased in Ilorin but for those individuals reporting continuing exposure, the effect size of exposure on modern family planning use remained the same and was not significantly different from Kaduna. Modern family planning use continued to increase in both cites but at a lower rate than during Phase I. The results are useful for designing family planning programs that sustain beyond the life of the program.