Marie Stopes International: New measurement tool will provide clear evidence of the impact of family planning programmes on communities

Monday, 16 November 2009 12:00 AM

Kampala: Global family planning and reproductive health agency Marie Stopes International (MSI) today launches a new measurement tool which will enable government health departments, hospitals, NGOs and other agencies to accurately calculate the effect of family planning programmes on the wider health, economic, environmental and societal outcomes of the communities and countries in which they work.

The Impact Calculator integrates several validated and commonly used models and formulae into a single, user friendly application which allows any organisation to calculate the impact of its own family planning services on a community, national, regional or global level.

Using the tool, it is possible to calculate demographic and health impacts such as the number of pregnancies and abortions averted, and the number of maternal, infant and under-5 deaths prevented; economic impacts such as the total savings made to household, community and health systems' budgets; and environmental impacts, such as the ecological footprints averted (the sum of land and sea required to provide food and resources consumed by each person, to provide space for infrastructure and to absorb waste).

The Impact Calculator will be previewed by MSI's Director of Strategy and External Affairs, Michael Holscher at a reception held at the International Conference on Family Planning in Kampala, Uganda today.

Using the Impact Calculator to calculate the effect of MSI's own programmes in 42 countries worldwide, Holscher reveals that, to date in 2009 MSI's family planning services have:

- prevented almost seven million unplanned pregnancies
- averted more than two million abortions
- saved household, community and health system budgets over US$1 billion
- prevented over four million ecological footprints

"When the Impact Calculator becomes available to third party agencies in 2010," said Holscher, "it will enable anyone working in the field of sexual and reproductive health to demonstrate persuasively to governments and donors how an investment in family planning programmes can have a transformative effect at every level of society - from saving lives and improving the living conditions of families and whole communities to improving national health outcomes and contributing to economic and ecological sustainability."

The Impact Calculator will become available to third party agencies in the New Year. For further information, contact Kristen Hopkins:

Email: research@mariestopes.org

Phone: +44 (0)20 7034 2384

For media enquiries and spokesperson interview please contact:

Emily James: +44 (0) 207 034 2307

emily.james@mariestopes.org.uk

Tony Kerridge: +44 (0) 207 034 2365 / +44 (0)7748 948037

tony.kerridge@mariestopes.org.uk

Louise Lee-Jones (on-site conference contact): +256 773 765 413

Notes to editors:

MSI is an international social enterprise providing expert care and support to over six million couples in 43 countries in relation to their sexual and reproductive healthcare. This includes advice, information and services related to family planning, unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and emergency contraception. For further information, visit www.mariestopes.org

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