Family planning in Palestine

Use of family planning method is a proxy indicator for health and wellbeing of women around the globe. It was shown that maternal mortality and morbidity is higher among communities with low prevalence of family planning method use and vice versa. High level of unmet need for family planning was also associated with higher mortality and morbidity.
Prevalence of using a family planning modern method in Palestine stands at around 50% of married women in reproductive age. This figure reflects a stagnation concerning use of family planning, demonstrates a significant variation in relation to geographic and demographic factors, but most importantly reflects a high unmet need for family planning in the Palestinian community. Unmet need for family planning is influenced by many factors related to the community culture and attitude, availability and access to care and last but not least to the quality of services provided.
The provision of family planning services falls within the mandate of different healthcare providers and throughout the years, harmonization of care and reduction of duplication have become a critical area to address.
This paper will discuss the current situation concerning availability, access to and quality of family planning services in Palestine. It will discuss as well the need for harmonized services provision to achieve higher coverage and lower (unmet need) caused by access and availability issues.