The strategies, experiences and future challenges of the information component in the Indonesian Family Planning Programme.

Asia Pac Popul J 3(4):33-44 (1988) PMID 12342240

In 1957, the Indonesian Planned Parenthood Federation was established. In 1970, the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN) was created. The current contraceptive prevalence rate is 45-50%. The family planning program began with a health-oriented approach. To promote acceptance, religious leaders were asked to provide legitimacy to the program. Through their efforts, it became possible to include all the means and medication used for family planning services within the program. In developing an IEC strategy to encourage couples to accept family planning, 3 main factors were studied: 1) the types of innovations that were to be introduced, 2) the characteristics of the Indonesian community, and 3) the need for an IEC strategy to convey the programs messages the community and make the community itself the agent of the innovation being introduced. The elements of the strategy were introduced stage by stage to avoid unnecessary debate. Another strategic step was the introduction of family planning using a community approach. A 3rd strategic step was a shift from couples as family planning acceptors to the introduction of the norm of a small, happy, and prosperous family. The 1st stage, expansion of program coverage, 1) promoted the need for and desirability of family planning to make the small and happy family the norm and 2) supplied contraceptives and information about contraceptives throughout Indonesia. The 2nd stage, the program maintenance approach, included 1) an increase in the frequency of visits to villages by mobile family planning teams, 2) the integration of family planning activities with other health-related activities, and 3) giving people a wider choice of methods and helping them to choose the most suitable method for them. The 3rd stage made family planning a community activity, integrated within the economic and social fabric of community life. The general strategy of the IEC program is to make the various target groups full family planning participants, who will in turn, help to draw nonacceptors into the program. Social marketing is being used to 1) reach those as yet uninformed about family planning, 2) promote the quality of various information and motivation activities so that they will become behaviorally oriented, and 3) provide an opportunity for the private sector to participate in the program professionally.