No contraception for 233m women

Excluding China, developing countries will account for more than 80% of the unmet need, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, experts reported in The Lancet.

Use of contraception among women aged between 15 and 49 has risen over the past two decades, it said.

But a demographic bulge means the total number of women lacking access to fertility control will rise unless there is additional funding made available to resolve the problem.

In 2010, 12.3% of women of fertile age did not have access to contraception, down from 15.4% in 1990, according to the study, funded by the UN Population Division and the National University of Singapore.

Under the Millennium Development Goals, UN members pledged to achieve "universal access to reproductive health" by 2015.

In its annual State of World Population report last November, the UN said family planning led to a boost in child health and education, helped women secure a place in the workforce and reduced dangerous back-street abortions.

If an additional 120m women who wanted contraceptives could get them by 2020, an estimated three million fewer babies would die in their first year of life, it said.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge