PRB Webcasts

International public health assistance and policy has largely focused on HIV/AIDS and malaria in recent years, and family planning programs have often been overlooked. Despite a common misperception that global population growth has halted, an enormous and growing need for family planning exists.Five former directors of USAID's Population and Reproductive Health Program urge immediate action on family planning funding in the report, Making the Case for U.S. International Family Planning Assistance. The authors argue that investing in family planning provides substantial returns, not only by reducing unintended pregnancies and saving millions of lives, but also by making progress toward antipoverty and development goals. Steven Sinding, a senior scholar at the Guttmacher Institute and director of the USAID Office of Population from 1983 to 1986, spoke to PRB about the need for increased focus on family planning, the successes of previous family planning programs, and his hopes for the report's impact.