New directions in family planning communication: 12 predictions for the 1990s

Family planning communication is not a new subject in Asia. Organized family planning programmes began in Asia as early as the 1960s. Bangladesh, China and Taiwan province of the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand have led the way not only in offering family planning services but also in developing information campaigns and educational programmes to inform and persuade people to practise family planning. While other parts of the world were debating whether the words “family planning” and specific types of contraceptives could even be mentioned in public, Governments in Asia were subsidizing mass media promotion of smaller families and of specific contraceptive methods. The evidence is clear that Asia has led the world in family planning communication.