Stud Fam Plann. 1987 May-Jun; 18(3): 157-68.

Oral contraception in Bangladesh: social marketing and the importance of husbands.

Davies J, Mitra SN, Schellstede WP.

This is a report on a study that examined the characteristics of three types of commercial providers of oral contraceptives, as well as users and users' husbands. The study also examined how and from whom users and/or their husbands obtain oral contraceptives and instructions for use. The socioeconomic level of providers and user-couples was, on average, higher than for the general population. Husbands were particularly important for obtaining supplies from the commercial sector and acting as instructors. The findings suggest that: a special effort will be required if social marketing techniques are to increase oral contraceptive prevalence among the rural poor in Bangladesh, and family planning researchers and managers should give more attention to husbands in countries where men dominate communication networks.