Covid 19 Time SeriesLow- and middle-income countries could save billions of dollars a year in health care costs by investing in making contraception widely available to women, researchers said on Tuesday. Among 923 million women wanting to avoid pregnancy in these countries, about one in four does not use modern contraception, according to a new report by the Guttmacher Institute, a U.S.-based sexual health research and policy organization. Many women are either uninformed about modern contraception, can’t afford it or can’t access it, and unmet needs are particularly high among adolescents, the study showed. Each year, 111 million unintended pregnancies occur in low-and middle-income countries, accounting for 49% of all pregnancies in those countries, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The United Nations has estimated that the pandemic could cause an additional 7 million unwanted pregnancies this year worldwide.

Source: Standard Digital July 29, 2020 16:26 UTC