RESUMO
PIP: Most East Asian countries have national family planning programs combined with projects to improve nutrition and jobs in rural areas. The countries which have had a rapid industrial development, such as Taiwan or Singapore, have seen their birth rate decrease sharply during the past 20 years. In most countries the government discourages large families and promotes vasectomy and minilaparotomy; abortion has been legalized almost everywhere. Information through radio and television play an important role, but not quite as important as that of fieldworkers who go from home to home in areas not reached by mass media. Cost for these programs is heavily paid by the U.S., and all programs are evaluated in the country of origin. Results are very encouraging and sometimes excellent, as in the case of South Korea, where about 45% of women practice contraception, and fertility rate has decreased from 6.0 in 1960, to 3.5 in 1975.^ieng