Peru CPS.

PIP: Peru has the 4th largest and one of the fastest growing populations in South America. Since 1976 Peru has officially supported family planning and child and maternal health services in an attempt to improve living standards and lower mortality. The government has sponsored several national demographic surveys in the past decade, in part to assess the success of these programs and to examine the fertility patterns. Results of the most recent survey, ENPA, conducted in 1981 provided an excellent opportunity to judge current trends in childbearing attitudes and behavior. The ENPA showed little change in the Peruvian total fertility rate (TFR). The TFR dropped from 5.3 children/woman in 1977-78 to 5.2 in 1981. There were large regional differences in fertility. There was a marked drop in the number of children women reported they wanted, from 3.8 children in 1977-78 to 2.8 in 1981. The 1977-78 survey revealed that over 80% of the women were familiar with modern contraceptive methods, but only about 15% used them. A slightly larger percentage of women used traditional methods, primarily rhythm. By 1981, the percentage of women in union using family planning increased from 32 to 41; most of this gain occurred in the percentage using rhythm. 33% of the women who wanted no more children were not using any form of family planning and less than half were using a reliable contraceptive method. The results indicated a substantial "unmet need." Most contraceptives were obtained from pharmacies, with the exception of clinical methods such as IUDs and sterilization. Older women wanting to be sterilized overwhelmingly sought out government supported hospitals or clinics.^ieng