Slaughtering sacred cows: Six institutional obstacles to advances in family planning

Abstract

In order to capitalise on new opportunities to advance contraceptive and reproductive health choices globally, organisations working in these fields will need to overcome six institutional obstacles. These are: (i) committee management; (ii) over-medicalisation; (iii) fear of risk and controversy; (iv) conferences, meetings, and symposia; (v) obsession with coordination; and (vi) fear of sex. The reproductive health community will require energy, innovative approaches, and a sharp focus on service delivery to address these hurdles that will otherwise slow down and misdirect programmatic momentum.

Chinese Abstract

摘 要 为了抓住新的机会促进全球生殖与避孕的健康选择, 在此领域工作的机构将需要克服六个体制性问题。分别为：(i) 委员会管理；(ii) 过度医疗化； (iii) 惧怕风险与争论；(iv) 讨论，会议与座谈；及(vi)对性的恐惧。生殖医学界需要活力而创新的态度并密切关注可解决这些障碍的方式，否则会阻碍和误导程序化势头。

Keywords:

• Abortion
• Birth control
• Condoms
• Contraception
• Family planning
• Implants
• IUDs
• Reproductive health

Declaration of interest: The authors are associated with either Marie Stopes International or DKT International (or both). The authors alone are responsible for the content and the writing of the paper.