USE OF TRADITIONAL MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS TO DELIVER FAMILY-PLANNING-SERVICES IN UTTAR-PRADESH

This pilot study conducted in Muzaffarnagar district in the state of U ttar Pradesh, India, demonstrates the potential for using traditional medical practitioners in the delivery of family planning services afte r a brief training period. Practitioners participated continuously in the program for an intervention period of two years during which their services were accepted by the community. The impact of their involvem ent was reflected in increased knowledge of permanent as well as rever sible contraceptive methods and in higher contraceptive use rates, esp ecially of reversible methods adopted by women younger than 25 years ( from 8 percent to 37 percent), in the intervention villages, as compar ed with increased knowledge and use (from 13 percent to 25 percent) of permanent methods alone in the control villages.