According to the preliminary results of the 2011 Demographic & Health Survey (DHS) some 61 per cent of women in union (age 15-49 years) in Cameroon, have expressed the urge to anticipate and attain their desired number of children as well as the spacing and timing of births (Family Planning, FP). In the survey, 26 per cent of women said they do not want to have children anymore while 35 per cent said that they would want to postpone the birth of their next child for at least another two years. This clearly shows that the need for FP is increasing in Cameroon as the previous DHS in 2004 indicated that only 46 per cent of women in union (age 15-49 year) wanted to stop child bearing or postpone their next birth for at least 2 years.
The preliminary results of the 2011 DHS further reveals that 23.4 per cent of women in union were using a family planning method. 9.3 per cent were using a traditional method while 14.1 per cent were using a modern method. Sources from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) say although the use of modern contraceptives in Cameroon has slightly increased from 12.5 per cent in 2004 to 14.1 per cent in 2011, it is still rather low in comparison to the rest of the world especially as the contraceptive prevalence rate in Sub-Saharan Africa is 17 per cent while it stands at 70 per cent in South America and 57 per cent in the developing world as a whole.
A UNFPA report further shows that women with unmet need for modern contraceptives, that is, those who want to avoid a pregnancy but are not using a modern contraceptive method has increased in Cameroon. With the negative consequences linked to the unmet need for modern contraceptives such as rampant abortion, UNFPA at a global level is increasing from 25 per cent to 40 per cent the proportion of our global programming resources being spent on FP. While working alongside the Ministry of Health, UNFPA also invests in raising public awareness on FP and training of health personnel on delivery of Family Planning services.
