VOA慢速英語(yǔ):UN Says Family Planning Pays Big for Developing Countries

[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, [00:02.31]this is the Health Report in Special English. [00:06.04]A new report says greater access to family planning methods [00:12.13]would save developing countries [00:14.51]more than eleven billion dollars a year. [00:18.36]The United Nations Population Fund says [00:22.15]the savings would come from reduced costs of care [00:26.76]for mothers and newborn babies. [00:30.57]These are some of the findings from this year's [00:33.67]"State of World Population" report: [00:37.09]Two hundred twenty-two million women in developing countries [00:42.03]cannot get birth control or other family planning services. [00:48.29]An investment of four billion dollars a year [00:52.20]would provide these women with reproductive information [00:56.61]to reduce unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions. [01:04.11]An investment of about two billion dollars a year [01:07.95]would provide enough contraceptives [01:10.49]to meet the needs of developing countries. [01:13.67]The report says increased access to family planning [01:19.21]is a good economic investment. [01:22.15]Having fewer children has long paid a so-called [01:26.88]demographic dividend to rich countries [01:30.61]in Europe and North America. [01:33.98]Population Fund spokeswoman Diane Stewart says [01:38.44]one-third of the growth of Asia's "tiger" economies [01:43.23]is the result of increased use of family planning services. [01:48.95]"To be able to choose the number of children [01:51.75]and when you start having children, [01:53.57]so that has dramatically changed [01:55.94]the way people live in many countries. [01:58.46]They're able to live longer and healthier lives [02:01.22]because of family planning, [02:02.76]and it also has a positive multiplier effect on development [02:06.55]because of the increased savings that are possible within the family [02:09.91]and the investment in economic growth that brings about." [02:14.13]Sub-Saharan Africa has some of the biggest unmet needs [02:18.97]for family planning services. [02:21.02]The report says modern contraceptives are not widely available [02:26.78]in countries such as Chad and Niger. [02:30.61]But Ms. Stewart says providing contraceptives [02:34.64]in developing countries is not enough. [02:37.61]There are social, political and legal barriers [02:42.12]that prevent access to birth control. [02:45.40]In many cultures, women are encouraged to have large families [02:50.71]and to avoid or limit the use of contraceptives. [02:56.34]The Population Fund says [02:58.61]family planning helps countries reduce poverty. [03:03.33]A recent study said Nigeria's economy would grow [03:08.04]by at least thirty billion dollars if the fertility rate fell [03:14.08]by just one child per woman in the next twenty years. [03:19.32]Ms. Stewart says family planning is a global challenge. [03:24.52]"There are unmet needs for family planning [03:26.69]in every country in the world. [03:27.91]And a lot of that has to do with poor, disadvantaged, [03:30.50]marginalized groups in many countries who don't have access [03:33.29]to the kinds of services and products that they need [03:36.06]in order to plan their own families, [03:38.32]space their children and prevent unintended pregnancies." [03:41.74]She says studies show that abortion rates fall in countries [03:47.92]where people have access to modern methods of family planning.

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