[CBD: much more than community based distribution of contraceptives]. / DCA: mucho mas que distribucion comunitaria de anticonceptivos.

PIP: Profamilia in the Dominican Republic began a program called "Popular Promoters" in 1973 in which rural women were referred to family planning clinics, and in 1976 the community-based distribution program was formally begun. Between October 1974-October 1975, Profamilia had gained experience in the distribution of contraceptives in rural areas of the country. At the start, the community program continued promotion of family planning primarily in rural areas while offering contraceptive directly to those seeking them. By 1977, 105 communities and 12 provinces had been added to the program and 6500 women were being served. 14,500 of the 15,200 couples served in 1980 used pills. There were 23,000 users in 1984, 12,000 of whom were new acceptors. Over 34% of Profamilia's 66,000 clients are in the community-based distribution program. The program also maintains a strong educational component which each year offers over 400 talks in its 170 rural and urban communities on themes related to family planning, including health, education, nutrition, and use of available resources. Among early problems of the program were opposition from physicians, difficulty of recruiting volunteers who met the personality and other requirements, myths and incorrect beliefs of the community regarding family planning, the belief among men that contraception would encourage infidelity among women, and official pronatalist policies. The promoters work directly with the 170 distributors and also parrticipate in other community development activities such as the establishment of community organizations. Large families are seen as just 1 of the problems of the communities, most of which are impoverished, lack employment opportunities, and suffer other disadvantages of underdevelopment. Distributors are chosen by communities for leadership and other personality traits. Acceptance of family planning encourages efforts to assume control of other aspects of life.^ieng