Weak Commitment to Modern Contraceptive Methods — a Reason for Low Prevalence in Pakistan?

Syeda Saman Naz, Population Council
Arshad Mahmood, Population Council

The latest Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2006-07 points out that CPR is stagnant since the beginning of this decade compared to the steadily increasing number of women who used at least one contraceptive method. This indicates that a significant share of women have discontinued the use of family planning. This paper will analyze a national level contraceptive calendar data from 19,038 currently married women of reproductive age to examine the levels of contraceptive discontinuation in Pakistan to investigate if the low CPR is a consequence of high contraceptive discontinuation rates. Using discrete-time hazard regression models it will also investigate the factors that are associated with contraceptive discontinuation and if the reason specific contraceptive discontinuation rates are different for specific methods. The results of this study will help to reinforce the much neglected problem of discontinuation in the family planning program of Pakistan.