Meeting the Need for Family Planning in Loreto, Peru
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The Honors project is potentially the most valuable component of an Honors education. Typically Honors students choose to do their projects in their area of study, but some will pick a topic of interest unrelated to their major.
The Honors Program requires that the project be presented at a poster presentation event. Poster presentations are held each semester. Most students present during their senior year, but may do so earlier if their honors project has been completed.
This site presents project descriptions and selected posters for Honors projects completed since the Fall 2015 semester.
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Abstract
Voluntary family planning is internationally recognized as a cost-effective public health intervention to prevent life-threatening or unwanted births. Peru has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in South America and numbers are disproportionately high in rural, impoverished, and indigenous communities in the Loreto District. Thirty interviews were conducted with community members of reproductive age in Iquitos (urban), Mazan (semi-urban), and Santo Tomas (rural) of the Loreto district to determine accessibility, usage, and perceptions of contraception. Of the 22 respondents who did not desire more children, half were not using any modern form of contraception. Government policy has eliminated cost as a barrier to accessible contraception, leaving inconsistent availability of desired birth control and unexpected side effects as reasons most cited for non-usage. Family planning was considered an issue exclusive to women and male condoms were among the least utilized methods of contraception. Findings suggest a need for increase health information for women seeking voluntary contraception and outreach to men and adolescents.