PLOS ONE
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Family planning in Pacific Island Countries and
Territories (PICTs): A scoping review
Relmah Baritama Harrington ID1,2☯*, Nichole Harvey ID1☯, Sarah Larkins1☯,
Michelle Redman-MacLaren ID1☯
1 College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, QLD, Australia, 2 Atoifi College of Nursing,
Pacific Adventist University, Auki, Solomon Islands
☯ These authors contributed equally to this work.
* relmah.harrington@my.jcu.edu.au
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OPEN ACCESS
Citation: Harrington RB, Harvey N, Larkins S,
Redman-MacLaren M (2021) Family planning in
Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs): A
scoping review. PLoS ONE 16(8): e0255080.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255080
Editor: José Antonio Ortega, University of
Salamanca, SPAIN
Received: October 6, 2020
Accepted: July 9, 2021
Published: August 5, 2021
Peer Review History: PLOS recognizes the
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255080
Copyright: © 2021 Harrington et al. This is an open
access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original
author and source are credited.
Abstract
The use of contraceptives for family planning improves women’s lives and may prevent
maternal deaths. However, many women in low and middle-income countries, including the
Pacific region, still die from pregnancy-related complications. While most health centres
offer family planning services with some basic contraceptive methods, many people do not
access these services. More than 60% of women who would like to avoid or delay their pregnancies are unable to do so. This scoping review identifies and analyses evidence about
family planning service provision in Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs), with the
aim of better informing family planning services for improved maternal health outcomes in
the Pacific. We used Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review guidelines, supported by Levac,
Colquhoun and O’Brien to identify gaps in family planning service provision. Selected studies included peer-reviewed publications and grey literature that provided information about
family planning services from 1994 to 2019. Publication data was charted in MS Excel. Data
were thematically analysed and key issues and themes identified. A total of 45 papers (15
peer-reviewed and 30 grey literature publications) were critically reviewed. Five themes
were identified: i) family planning services in the Pacific; ii) education, knowledge and attitudes; iii) geographical isolation and access; iv) socio-cultural beliefs, practices and influences; and v) potential enabling factors for improved family planning, such as appropriate
family planning awareness by health care providers and services tailored to meet individual
needs. While culture and religion were considered as the main barriers to accessing family
planning services, evidence showed health services were also responsible for limiting
access. Family planning services do not reach everyone. Making relevant and sustainable
improvements in service delivery requires generation of local evidence. Further research is
needed to understand availability, accessibility and acceptability of current family planning
services for different age groups, genders, social and marital status to better inform family
planning services in the Pacific.
Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are
within the paper and its supporting information
files. Additionally, the data used in this study can
be found at the James Cook University repository,
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at: https://research.jcu.edu.au/data/published/
07d0933d17f3070f5e5e38da36bfdfff/.
Funding: The authors received no specific funding
for this work.
Competing interests: The authors have declared
that no competing interests exist.
Family planning in Pacific Island Countries and Territories
Introduction
In 2017, more than 800 women around the world died every day from preventable causes
related to pregnancy and childbirth complications [1–3]. Many of these deaths occurred in
low and middle income countries (LMICs) including those in the Pacific region [4]. Adolescent females and women living in rural areas face higher risks of unintended pregnancies,
complications and death compared to other women [5, 6]. Health education and contraception knowledge, with access to appropriate health services can empower women and men to
make informed decisions about their reproductive choices [7]. Increasing evidence also
showed that empowering women empowers humanity: families are healthier, and better educated, and economies also grow faster [8]. Ensuring access to sexual and reproductive health
services (SRH), including family planning (FP), is a fundamental human right and can be a
cost-effective approach to prevent pregnancy complications that lead to maternal deaths [9,
10].
The United Nations (UN) population conferences in Rome (1954) and Belgrade (1965)
highlighted the issue of FP in light of rising populations and the threat of mass starvation [11,
12]. Population control policies were created, but, these policies failed to address the dimensions of social inequality in terms of human rights [11]. Subsequent UN population conferences, including the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Woman, 1979;
Bucharest 1974; the International Conference on Population, Mexico, 1984; and World
Human Rights, Vienna 1993 continued the discussion with greater contributions from
women, religious groups and less developed countries [13]. The need to change approaches to
population control and its relationship to development became evident. The status of men and
women in the family and society were then fully realised in FP discourse. This recognition led
to the initiation of the reproductive and sexual health rights concept as an alternative to the
former narrowly FP program approach [9, 14].
At the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), Cairo 1994, the
international community reached an unprecedented global consensus on population issues
and the concept was endorsed by 179 countries. The ICPD Program of Action (ICPD PoA) set
out a series of priority issues including among others, population and development, gender
equality and equity, reproductive health and rights and adolescents and youth [15]. The Beijing
Declaration (1995) further supported the notion of gender equality and the empowerment of
women everywhere [8]. Central to the ICPD PoA [16] is the attainment of reproductive rights
and reproductive health. All countries are expected to ensure that comprehensive reproductive
health services including FP are accessible, affordable and acceptable to all individuals through
the Primary Health Care (PHC) system. This comprehensive package includes: (i) FP counselling, information, education, communications and services; (ii) education and services for safe
pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal care; (iii) prevention and appropriate treatment of unsafe
abortion; (iv) treatment of reproductive tract infections and appropriate information education and counselling for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); and (v) promoting sexual health [17, 18]. Family planning is a component
of reproductive health that has a strong natural link with the other four program components
and is a pre-requisite for achieving all other sustainable development goals [19]. Family planning, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), allows individuals and couples to
anticipate and attain their desired number of children, and the spacing and timing of their
births, through the use of modern contraceptive methods [20].
The review of the ICPD PoA goals in the United Nations Funds for Population Activities
(UNFPA) Pacific progress reports [3, 18, 21] identified that these goals remain relevant.
Although significant progress was made, greater action is needed. The Millennium
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Development Goals (MDGs: 2000–2015), provided the global framework following the ICPD,
with Targets 5a “to improve maternal health” and 5b “universal access to reproductive health”
[22]. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs: 2015–2030) continue to provide the platform
for this global agenda [11, 23]. The third SDG, good health and wellbeing, espouses inclusivity
and not leaving anyone behind, regardless of their age. Targets 3.1 and 3.7 respectively supported reproductive health and FP, aiming to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to
below 70:100,000 live births and provide universal access to SRH services. Underpinning the
provision of services in the SDG era is the notion that services focus on the marginalised and
most at risk groups such as adolescents and the principle of “informed free choice” governs FP
programs [18, 24]. This shift in global thinking has had major policy and programing implications for reproductive health in the Pacific region. The diversity of the Pacific region reflects
the complexities in establishing a one-size-fits-all FP program. Contraceptive needs may not
be met due to limited, inconvenient or inappropriate services, cultural factors or religious
beliefs [25]. Reaching these SDG targets by 2030 will require context relevant programs and
policies to be incorporated into each country’s national strategic plan [22, 26].
For the purpose of this review, the Pacific region comprises of 21 Pacific Island Countries
and Territories (PICTs) dispersed throughout the Pacific, often referred to as ‘large ocean
states’ [27]. These countries represent an enormous diversity in physical geography and culture, languages and social-political organisations, population size and development, and are
classed in three main ethnic sub-groups. Melanesia includes Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New
Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Polynesia includes American Samoa, Cook
Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Wallis and Futuna,
while Micronesia includes The Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands,
Nauru, and Northern Mariana Islands [14]. With small populations and land areas amongst
vast ocean spaces, limited resources and a narrow economic base affect these countries—most
rely heavily on official development assistance from higher income countries and international
partners [27]. Modern FP programs were introduced in PICTs in the 1960s to promote population reduction and socio-economic development as well as to improve women’s and children’s health [28]. At the ICPD, the Pacific community accepted the PoA and recognised
sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) as fundamental to human rights [29], and have
since committed to improving the reproductive health of their people [30]. While significant
global achievements have been made, such as decreased maternal and infant mortality ratios,
improved access to contraception, falling fertility rates, and increased life expectancy, progress
for improved SRH in the Pacific has been slow and inconsistent [8]. With low Gross National
Income per capita (<$3,000) and high population growth rates (>2.0%), Pacific countries
such as Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and PNG have inadequate resources to support current
population growth [10, 14]. The realisation of rights and social protection for vulnerable
groups such as women and children, the elderly, youth and people with disabilities is inadequate. Integrated and comprehensive approaches to achieving SRHR across the region are yet
to be fully established. Pacific countries are in various stages of implementing the “Family Life
Curriculum” [3, 31] in schools and establishing youth friendly services. However, the integration of population issues into education systems is still under development. Enabling women
to enjoy full participation in political and economic life remains a challenge and gender-based
violence is prevalent in many PICTs [21].
Contraceptive Prevalence Rates (CPR) and ‘unmet need for FP’ have been used as indicators to measure the uptake of contraceptives in FP programs. The CPR in the Demographic
and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) is defined as the
percentage of women age 15–49 years currently married or in union, who are using or whose
partner is using any contraceptive method at the time of the survey. ‘Unmet need for FP’ is the
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percentage of married women or women in union who want to stop or delay childbearing but
are not using any contraception [32]. Both indicators were used to determine if women or couples were taking any action or using any method to delay or avoid getting pregnant [23]. In the
Pacific, the CPR is estimated to be 18–48%, well below the 62%, average for Low Income
Countries [14]. There is also a relatively high level of unmet need for FP (8–46%) when compared to global estimates of less than 10% unmet need for FP [23]. The persistently high total
fertility rate of 3–4% compared to 1% globally reflects the low CPR and high unmet need for
FP in PICTs [10, 24, 33].
Before the 1994 Cairo conference, FP was delivered within the Maternal Child Health and
Family Planning (MCH/FP) context, and primarily targeted married women. After 1994, the
integration of these services into more holistic and comprehensive approaches including SRH
was considered [28, 34]. More recently, this MCH/FP approach included the broader context
of Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) to reach the
unmarried and adolescents [35, 36].
However, many adolescents, women and men do not access these services [36]. Little is
known about how FP services are accessed and provided at health facilities throughout the
Pacific [37, 38]. For this reason, a scoping review was conducted to map key concepts from a
wide range of literature to identify gaps to inform further research and for improved FP services in the Pacific region [39–41]. To understand how FP services have been implemented in
PICTs, we reviewed and synthesised the literature on provision of FP services in PICTs and
the successes and challenges of service implementation. This review focused on two research
questions:
1. How have FP services been implemented in PICTs between 1994 and 2019?
2. What are the successes and challenges in providing FP services in PICTs?
For the purpose of this review, ‘FP service’ refers to any service within SRH care that provides contraception and counselling services purposely to prevent or delay pregnancy.
Method
Scoping reviews are useful in health research, to map key concepts and identify literature gaps.
They are particularly useful when little is known about a topic. We followed the guidelines for
conducting scoping reviews established by Arksey and O’Malley [39], Levac, Colquhoun and
O’Brien [40] and the Joanna Briggs Institute [42], to summarise peer reviewed journal papers
and relevant grey literature including government and organisational reports. This review follows an unregistered protocol (S1 Appendix) developed prior to conducting the study and
structured consistent with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Metaanalysis Protocols extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist [41].
Eligibility criteria
Original research studies of all designs including grey literature conducted in PICTs were
considered.
To be included in the review, papers had to meet the following inclusion criteria
(S2 Appendix):
1. Report on the FP service component of the SRH Care Services in PICTs or world regions
that include countries in the Pacific;
2. Report on the successes/enablers and challenges/barriers to FP service provision;
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3. Published in the English language; and
4. Published between 1994 and 2019 to capture the 1994 ICPD focus on the global commitment strategy for universal access to SRH including FP, and also encompass the period of
the MDG and commencement of the SDGs. The PICTs also signed an agreement to ICPD
in 1994 and this guides their progress towards achieving targets for the SDGs.
Papers discussing SRH and STIs that did not include aspects of FP were excluded, as were
papers focused on surgical termination of pregnancy as a form of FP, antenatal care and pregnancy services.
Information sources and search
Informed by the research questions, we determined keywords (S3 Appendix), before constructing search strategies. University librarians assisted to review and confirm search strategy
drafts for electronic databases and grey literature searches, which were then refined through
author group discussion. Scopus, MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL and PsycINFO databases were
searched using key words and database-specific subject headings to identify relevant studies.
These databases were chosen as they provide most relevant peer reviewed articles about family
planning in the Pacific. The search strategy was adapted for each database. The search was conducted between 2018 and 2019. The final search strategy for MEDLINE (Ovid) can be found
in S4 Appendix. Searches were performed for published and unpublished work on Google
Scholar, organisational websites (WHO, UNFPA, United Nations International Children’s
Emergency Fund, UN), Pacific-based journals and reports (i.e. Pacific Journal for Reproductive Health, South Pacific Commission) including government reports such as Demographic
and Health Surveys. Organisational websites and Pacific-based journals and reports were
selected to augment papers identified by electronic sources, as these were known to report on
reproductive health services including FP in PICTs.
Selection of sources of evidence
All papers were imported into Endnote bibliographic software and duplicates removed. Two
authors (RH and MRM) performed the initial screening. Papers that did not clearly meet the
inclusion criteria were reviewed by the other two authors (NH and SL) before a decision was
made to either include or exclude the papers from the review. We extracted data using a MS
Excel spreadsheet designed for this review to capture information about the study characteristics (publication year, country of study, study focus, design), and a data extraction sheet
(Table 1) where key findings of FP services were recorded (S5 Appendix). The PRISMA flow
chart in Fig 1 shows the procedure for selecting papers for inclusion.
Data charting process
Full-text papers that met the inclusion criteria were thoroughly read to capture relevant information required in the review [39, 40]. Findings were analysed using content analysis and
synthesised using a thematic, narrative approach [42, 44]. During this stage, decisions about
what information should be recorded from the primary studies were made using an iterative
process [40]. Given that limited peer reviewed research was conducted on FP service provision
in the Pacific region, studies were not excluded on quality grounds but included purposely to
map available evidence as consistent with the scoping review methodology. However, the overall quality of the included studies was limited.
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Table 1. Data extraction sheet.
Authors/Date/Location
Focus
Publication
type
Methods/Sample
Key Findings
Brewis et al., 1998 [45]
Samoa
Assess family planning (FP)
acceptance
Original
research
Qualitative (n = 155) women 15–49
years
• Awareness and use of contraception have
markedly increase in both rural and urban
areas
• Availability and accessibility to
contraceptives reportedly high
• Contraceptives made accessible and
affordable for rural and urban woman by
government
• Younger women desired larger families
• FP needs further investigation to be
clearly understood
Burslem et al., 1998 [46]
Solomon Islands
Teenage pregnancies and
sexually transmitted infections
Descriptive
research
Questionnaire (n = 266) high school
students. Focus group (n = 12) women
and girls. Interview (n = 24) college
students, pregnant single mothers
• FP services unavailable to unmarried
people regardless of age
• Poor knowledge about FP services
• Poor access to condoms
• A sympathetic health worker is needed
Cammock et al., 2017 [47]
Fiji
Socioeconomic and cultural
contexts
Original
research
Cross sectional study (n = 212, women
of childbearing age)
• FP service not culturally-sensitive
Daube et al., 2016 [48]
Kiribati
Knowledge, use and barriers to Descriptive
contraceptive uptake for women research
and men
Mixed method (n = 500) women (15–49 • Unsuitable service delivery
years) and men (15–54 years)
• Barriers include, not interested in FP,
knowledge gaps, personal reasons, family &
social obligation
Davis et al., 2016 [49]
Cook Islands, Solomon
Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu,
Papua New Guinea
Attitudes and belief regarding
Descriptive
benefits, challenges, risks and
research
approaches to male involvement
in reproductive health
Qualitative study (n = 17) senior
Maternal Child Health policy makers
and practitioners
• Cost of service and language are main
barriers
• Need culturally relevant services
• FP services not focused on men/men are
not involved
• Perceived challenges–socio-cultural
norms, physical layout of clinic, health
workers attitudes and work loads
• To engage boys and men early in the life
cycle
Hayes and Robertson,
2012 [50] Pacific Island
Countries
Current status and prospects for Report
repositioning FP on the
development agenda
Not provided
• Distribution and dispensing of
contraceptive in the Pacific mainly through
Government-operated health facilities,
Family Health Associations and Private
pharmacies or doctors in private practice
Generally free services
• Most Pacific countries incorporate
reproductive health including FP into
national and subnational development
plans
• CPR ranged from 17–49% in PICTs.
Method of measurement may not be
comparable and accurate
• Recently introduced DHS in PICTs
House and Ibrahim, 1999
[51] Pacific Island
Countries
Adolescent birth rates
Discussion
paper
Not provided
• Focused on adolescent services and no
special attention to older women’s
reproductive health needs
• Inconvenient and unsatisfactory services
• Higher fertility and unmet needs among
women aged over 35
• Rising reproductive health status of
adolescents, resulted in declining fertility
rates over three decades
(Continued )
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Table 1. (Continued)
Authors/Date/Location
Focus
Publication
type
Methods/Sample
Key Findings
House and Katoanga,
1999 [28] Pacific Island
Countries
Reproductive health and FP in
Pacific island countries
Discussion
paper
Not provided
• Before Cairo conference MCH/FP centred
on the pregnant mother and her child
• FP targets married women. In practice
MCH/FP implemented separately from
other SRH components (STI/HIV)
• Challenges: raising awareness, identifying
• priorities for adolescents SRH needs and
integrating services into more holistic and
comprehensive approach
• Success: reproductive health training
program was established in Fiji
Kennedy et al., 2011 [2]
East Asia and Pacific
Island Countries and
Territories
Adolescent fertility- current use, Review
knowledge and access to FP
information and service
Not provided
• Married and unmarried adolescents have
less access, low use and high-unmet need
for contraceptives.
• Adolescents lack knowledge about
services compared older women
• Concerns about gender of health
providers, poor geographical access and
financial barriers
Kennedy et al., 2013a [10]
Vanuatu and Solomon
Islands
Health, demographic and
economic consequences of
reducing unmet need for FP
Intervention
research
Kennedy et al., 2013b [5]
Vanuatu
Service providers’ perceptions of Original
research
youth-friendly SRH services in
Vanuatu
Using demographic modelling
• Increasing investment in FP could
contribute to improved maternal and infant
outcomes and substantial public savings
and lower dependency ratio
Qualitative study (n = 66 Focus group)
with 341 male and female adolescents.
(n = 12 interviews) with policy makers
and service providers
• Government provides most SRH service.
Small number of youth facilities provided
by non-government organisations
• Service focused mainly on STIs and HIV
• Adolescents lack knowledge about
prevention of pregnancy, condom use,
puberty and sexual relations; early sexual
debut
• Need friendly service providers and
context-specific strategies
Kennedy et al., 2014 [52]
Vanuatu
SRH information preferences of
adolescents in Vanuatu
Original
research
Qualitative study (n = 66 Focus group)
with 341 male and female adolescents.
(n = 12 interviews) with policy makers
and service providers
• Adolescents mostly access the service to
seek information or advice
• Non-government services more accessible
than government facilities
• Barriers include socio-economic norms
and taboos
• Lack of confidentiality and privacy
• Schools an underutilised source of
information.
• Need a wide range of media sources of
SRH information
Kenyon and Power 2003
[34] Pacific Island
Countries
Getting the basics of FP in the
Pacific region
Discussion
paper
Not provided
• Pacific health centres traditionally operate
a once a week session for FP. This is likely
to be inconvenient for many clients
• No privacy in clinics, confidentiality easily
breached in small village clinics,
• Health worker attitudes (negative)
• Outdated population policies/no policies/
policies lack details and coordinating
structure/policies that emphasise
approaches to FP not shown to be effective
• Socio-cultural values & beliefs
(Continued )
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Table 1. (Continued)
Authors/Date/Location
Focus
Publication
type
Methods/Sample
Key Findings
Kiribati Demographic
health survey, 2009 [53]
Kiribati
Contraceptive knowledge, use,
attitudes and sources
Report
Mixed method: 1,978 women aged 15–
49, 1,135 men aged 15–54
• Contraceptive prevalence rate– 22%
(married women), 16.5% (all women)
• Government/public sector strategically
important in providing service through
health facilities. Few use private sectors.
Others source contraceptives from relatives
overseas. Service offered for free
• Challenges in contraceptive use include
the desire for many children and religious
prohibition
Kura et al., 2013 [54]
Papua New Guinea
Male involvement in sexual
reproductive health (including
FP)
Original
research
Mixed method, 122 married men aged
21–44 years
• FP clinic services are usually female
oriented; men are never targeted on
awareness/education on safe motherhood
initiatives
• Inadequate services for men, male literacy
also contributed to men’s participation
• Challenges: illiteracy, inadequate
knowledge (importance and benefits of FP),
cultural factors, lack of appropriate services.
Other factors include wanting more
children and fear of religious
condemnation
Lee, 1995 [55] Pacific
Island Countries
Assess current situation in
reproductive health and FP and
the way forward
Discussion
Paper
Not provided
• Reproductive health and FP are an
integral part of MCH/FP framework and
focuses on pregnancy and contraception
• Services confined to married women and
narrowly focused. Do not address needs of
special groups like teenagers and women
over 40 years
• Sexually transmitted infections are
separate programs from MCH
• Low male and adolescent participation
Lincoln et al., 2018 [56]
Fiji
Identify the level of knowledge,
attitudes and practices of FP
among women of reproductive
age
Descriptive
research
Qualitative cross-sectional study, 325
women (15–49 years)
• Health centres were the primary sources
of in-depth knowledge and awareness
regarding contraceptive use compared to
other highly influential initiatives
• Barriers to contraceptive use include
religious beliefs, cultural beliefs, gender
disparities, the need for regular visits to
health centres
• Ideal number of desired children in
families is between 3 and 5
• Way forward–greater gender equality,
programs to address issue by describing the
number of children in an ideal family unit
Marshall, 2017 [57]
Kiribati
Strengths and gaps of SRH
services
Report
Mixed method (n = 14) community
clinics and staff
• Basic FP service provided at most
community clinics
• No FP guidelines, lack of standardisation
of care across all clinics
• Staff need further education to increase
knowledge, confidence and skills to enable
contraceptive choices
(Continued )
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Table 1. (Continued)
Authors/Date/Location
Focus
Publication
type
Methods/Sample
Key Findings
Marshall Islands
Demographic health
survey, 2007 [58]
Contraceptive use, knowledge,
attitudes and behaviour
Report
Mixed method: 1,626 women aged 15–
49 1,055 men aged 15–54
• Contraceptive prevalence rate– 45%
(married women), 37% (all women)
• Government is the main source of
modern contraception. Services provided
for free
• Almost universal contraceptive
knowledge for men and women
• Common reasons for non-use are fear of
side-effects, loss of fertility and desire for
more children
Mody et al., 2013 [59]
Asia-Pacific Countries
Impact of strategic partnership
programs to improve evidencebased guidance
Program
description
Multiple methods: Sample not provided • Key informants who provide information
are often program administrators who may
not be aware of the actual use of FP
materials in the clinics
• Evidence based tools were used to
improve training curriculum and materials
in Pacific Islands and Territories
• FP guidelines and tools only effective if
supplies to meet the increased demand are
available
Morisause et al., 2017 [60]
Papua New Guinea
Contraceptive prevalence and
barriers to using modern
contraception
Descriptive
research
Mixed method (n = 193) women of
childbearing age 15–49 years
• Service not culturally accessible
• Village health workers discourage use of
contraception
• Low contraceptive prevalence, high
unintended pregnancies and unmet need
• Lack of knowledge, staff attitudes, costs,
stock availability
• Worried about side-effects, use traditional
methods
• Husband/partner opposition, clinic too
far
Naidu et al., 2017 [61] Fiji
Knowledge, attitudes, practices
and barriers to safe sex and
contraceptive use
Descriptive
research
Cross-sectional study (n = 1490) of
rural women aged 18–75 years old who
present to sexual reproductive health
outreach sessions
• Unmarried people had difficulties
accessing service
• High knowledge about pregnancy and
how to avoid it (>80%, but low knowledge
about the practicalities of contraception
(43%)
• Higher education level of women does not
correlate with knowledge about emergency
contraception and condom use and
pregnancy prevention
• Barriers: partner disagreement, lack of
contraceptive knowledge
Nauru Demographic
health survey, 2007 [62]
Information on contraceptive
use, knowledge and attitudes
pertaining to contraception
Report
Mixed method: 667 women and 653
men aged 15–49
• Contraceptive prevalence rate– 36%
(married women), 27% (all women)
• FP service not integrated with other
reproductive health services
• Wide knowledge of condom use
• High use among younger women and
currently married men and lower use in
women 35 years and older. Men are
reported to use 4 male methods
• Lack emphasis on discussing FP issues
due to lack of home visits
• Desire for more children is the common
reason for non-use
(Continued )
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Table 1. (Continued)
Authors/Date/Location
Focus
Publication
type
Methods/Sample
Key Findings
Papua New Guinea
Demographic health
survey, 2016–18 [63]
Awareness and use of FP
methods
Report
19,200 households selected from 800
census units. Women and men aged
15–49 selected for individual interviews
• Contraceptive prevalence rate– 37%
(married women), 33% (all women)
• Health facilities common places to source
services and contraception. Free services
from public sector
• Married educated women most users of
service Men and adolescents have less
access
• Common challenges: lack of knowledge,
want more children, side-effects, hard to get
methods and religion
Raman et al., 2015 [6]
Solomon Islands
Barriers to adolescent SRH
service provision
Descriptive
research
Mixed method (n = 147) teachers,
school principals, youths & health
workers
• Services are theoretically available, but
some services may be inaccessible due to
cultural beliefs
• Unmarried people may not be offered
contraception
• Lack of clarity in health workers role for
adolescent reproductive health programs,
social norms, shortage of resources
(understaffing), lack of incentives,
ambivalent attitudes, knowledge gaps
• Inadequate training for adolescent sexual
reproductive health services
Robertson, 2007 [36]
Pacific Island Countries
Repositioning FP as an integral
development strategy
Discussion
paper
Not provided
• Global waning of FP services and
emerging threat from HIV/AIDS
• Emphasis on FP diminishes
• High total fertility rate
• Under-reporting of contraceptive
prevalence rates, no information on unmet
need is available
• DHS data not available in most Pacific
countries, prior to 2016
Roberts, 2007 [64]
Evaluation—design, efficacy and Program
effectiveness of MIRH
description
Male workers: Solomon Islands
(n = 16), Fiji (n = 21)
• Concept of male involvement in
reproductive health well received in Pacific
countries but services lack strategies to deal
with sensitivities in sexual health issues
Fiji and Solomon
• Need to measure unmet need for
contraceptives
Islands
• Contraceptive prevalence rates need to be
validated through demographic health
surveys or related surveys in order to
monitor progress
Rowling et al., 1994 [65]
Family planning knowledge,
attitudes and practices among
married men and women of
reproductive age
Descriptive
research
Mixed method: (n = 150) women 15–49 • FP service focuses on married couples, not
years, (n = 90) male 15–54 years
available to unmarried couples regardless of
age
Solomon Islands
• Women access service more than men
• Poor knowledge about reproduction
• Beliefs, cultural norms and distance
influenced use of service and contraception
(Continued )
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Table 1. (Continued)
Authors/Date/Location
Focus
Publication
type
Methods/Sample
Key Findings
Samoa Demographic
health survey, 2014 [66]
Contraceptive use, knowledge,
attitudes, sources and attitudes
Report
Mixed method: 4,805 women aged 15–
49 and 1,669 men aged 15–54
• Contraceptive prevalence rate– 27%
(married women), 17% (all women)
• Government sector is the main source of
provider
• Contraceptives are free
• Women had more access than men
• Knowledge increase over the last 5 years,
almost the same in both men and women
• Challenges: respondents and husband/
partner opposition, religious beliefs,
method related, health concerns and
wanting many children
Solomon Islands National
Information on fertility, FP,
infant and maternal mortality
Report
Statistics Office, 2015 [67]
Mixed method: women 15-49years
(n = 6226), men 15 years and above
(n = 3591)
• Contraceptive prevalence rate– 29%
(married women), 21% (all women)
• Contraception mostly provided in
government/public sectors, few by private,
faith based and non-government
organisations. Service is mostly free
• High unmet need in rural than urban
areas, high fertility rate and mortality rates
Solomon Islands
• Unmarried and young women and men
have less access
Tonga Demographic
health survey, 2012 [68]
Contraceptive knowledge, use,
attitudes and sources
Report
Mixed method: 3,068 women and 1,336
men 15–49 years
• Contraceptive prevalence rate– 34%
(married women), 20% (all women)
• Women in rural areas more likely to use a
method than urban women. Knowledge
high among currently married women and
men
• The government provided most services
and contraception. Condoms distributed in
clinic through peer educators. Services are
provided free
• Reasons for non-use include: fear of sideeffects, desire for many children, health
concerns, husband/partner opposition and
religious prohibition
Tuvalu Demographic
health survey, 2007 [69]
Contraceptive use, knowledge,
attitudes and behavior
Report
Mixed method: 850 women and 428
men aged 15–49
• Contraceptive prevalence rate– 30.5%
(married women), 23.1% (all women)
• Source mainly from public/government
sector.
• High knowledge in all women and men
including unmarried sexually active men
• Reasons for intending to use
contraceptives include fear of side-effects,
desire for more children, health concerns,
opposition by respondent and religious
beliefs (fear of side-effects and desire for
more children are common reasons)
(Continued )
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Table 1. (Continued)
Authors/Date/Location
Focus
Publication
type
Methods/Sample
Key Findings
UNFPA, 2004 [18] Pacific
Island Countries
Progress at 10 years after ICPD
Report
Not provided
• Pacific countries remain highly supportive
of ICPD but progress in implementing its
recommendations varied across the region
• Some countries developed population
policies others have taken steps to prepare
but not reaching implementation stage
• Less progress in integration of population
into sector plans and strategies
• Most countries now capable of
conducting a population census but the
capacity to process, analyse, and interpret
census survey results from policy
perspective remains limited
UNFPA, 2009 [3] Pacific
Island Countries
Progress at 15 years after ICPD
Report
Not provided
• SRH not well coordinated and holistic due
to vertical, fragmented and under resourced
nature of programs.
• FP not reaching groups who need it
• High unmet need in older women,
lifetime fertility remains above 4 children
per woman in several countries
• Programs require renewed political
support and innovative strategies to meet
needs of disadvantaged groups
• Conduct more socio-cultural research on
factors inhibiting use of FP
UNFPA, 2014a [21] Pacific Progress at 20 years after ICPD
Island Countries
Report
Not provided
• Progress made but pace and extent varied
greatly between countries
• Integrated and comprehensive approach
to achieving SRH rights yet to be fully
established
• Integration of population issues into
education systems still under development
• High costs of transport because of
remoteness of many communities, a
significant barrier
• Effective stakeholder engagement and
partnerships reported as common
facilitators by governments
• To devote resources to research and
understand behaviours of Pacific peoples so
that programs on STIs, contraception, and
FP are based on best evidence
UNFPA, 2014b [14] 15
Pacific Island countries
Report—Summary of updated
population and development
profiles
Report
(n = 6) reproductive health program
officers
• Social and heterogeneous culture in the
Pacific
• Challenges differ among countries
• Very religious, sensitive issues challenging
to discuss
• Weak statistics, high unmet need, high
total fertility rate, low contraceptive
prevalence rate below 62% average for
developing countries
(Continued )
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Table 1. (Continued)
Authors/Date/Location
Focus
Publication
type
Methods/Sample
Key Findings
UNFPA, 2015a [70]
Kiribati
Existence and use of relevant
SRH services, policies and laws
(rights)
Report
Mixed method: health facilities visited
(n = 16). Interviews and focus group
discussions with (n = 8) senior Ministry
of Health officers, medical assistants
and relevant non-government officers
• Service relies heavily on development
partners funding, sustaining progress is a
challenge. SRH policy still in draft
• Need to improve integration of service for
both men and women. Poor service to outer
islands
• A signatory to the international health
regulations
• FP services observed to be available and
accessible
• Issues include: understaffing, outdated
policies/guidelines, inadequate reporting
systems, fiscal and geographical challenges
in outer islands
UNFPA, 2015b [71] Samoa Existence and use of relevant
SRH services, policies and laws
(rights)
Report
Mixed method: health facilities visited
(n = 11). Consultation/interview with
government and non-government
health service providers, managers and
technical advisors (n = 33)
• Has policy and remains committed to
upholding sexual reproductive health
rights. All health facilities provide FP
service
• Samoa invests in youth focused programs/
infrastructure
• Challenges include: cultural and
attitudinal barriers at all levels (individual/
communities; village/church leaders; school
management committees; government
ministries and service providers) and young
people limited access to contraception
UNFPA, 2015c [72]
Solomon Islands
Existence and use of relevant
SRH services, policies and laws
(rights)
Report
Mixed method: interview with the
health sector officer (n = 1), and nongovernment officers (n = 6)
• Contraceptives provided in most public
sectors, few in private/non-government and
faith-based organisations. Lack of
integration in all SRH services
• No SRH policy available but uses the
country’s Reproductive Health Strategy
Implementation Plan 2014–2016, HIV
policy, and multi-sectoral strategic plan
2005–2010.
• Service less accessed by younger women
and adolescents. Poor service delivery to
outer islands
• Mixed progress in incorporating gender
and rights into SRH agenda
• Economic issues, cultural and fiscal
constraints, understaffing. Outdated
policies and guidelines, inadequate health
infrastructures, and poor reporting system
challenges progress
(Continued )
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Table 1. (Continued)
Authors/Date/Location
Focus
UNFPA, 2015d [73] Tonga Existence and use of relevant
SRH services, policies and laws
(rights)
Publication
type
Methods/Sample
Key Findings
Report
Mixed method: health facilities visited
(n = 14). Key informant interviews
Ministry of Health (n = 11), nongovernment organisations (n = 4).
Focused group discussions (n = 4)
• All facilities assessed provide range of
SRH services (in clinic or outreach)
including FP. Services are free
• No current SRH policy but National
Integrated SRH Strategic Plan 2014–2018
guides SRH program
• current SRH policy but National
Integrated SRH Strategic Plan 2014–2018
guides SRH program
• Achieved mixed progress to incorporating
gender and rights
• Challenges to improved access:
understaffing, outdated policies; preventing
stock outs; no mentoring programs to
monitor skills retention. Others include:
geographical isolation, economic, cultural
and fiscal constraints
• Actively conducted outreach programs
through “settings approach” (schools,
villages, workplaces, churches, daily talk
back shows)
UNFPA, 2015e [74]
Vanuatu
Existence and use of relevant
SRH services, policies and laws
(rights)
Report
Mixed method: key informant
interviews: Ministry of Health service
managers/providers (n = 25); nongovernment organisations (n = 5);
partners (n = 4)
• Committed to upholding human rights of
its citizens, evidence through national
constitution and signing international
conventions and treaties
• Reproductive health policy (2008) and
strategy (2008–2010) is the guiding
document for delivery of STI/HIV and FP
• health policy (2008) and strategy (2008–
2010) is the guiding document for delivery
of STI/HIV and FP
• Higher-level health facilities provide
comprehensive range of SRH. Aid posts
reported not meeting FP promotion
• Challenges: young and growing youth
population; understaffing, outdated
policies, inadequate reporting systems/
processes
UNFPA, 2019 [75] Pacific
Island Countries
The State of Pacific’s RMNCAH
workforce
Report
Not provided
• Most countries have sufficient nurses to
meet need for RMNCAH care but shortage
of nurse-midwives
• Most have official policy to access
RMNCAH care but out of date and not
fully costed
• Barriers to service integration–staff
shortage and need for further training
• Gender barriers significant, concerns
about confidentiality in small settings
• Integration of youth-friendly RMNCAH
services rare in the region
(Continued )
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Table 1. (Continued)
Authors/Date/Location
Focus
Publication
type
Methods/Sample
Key Findings
Vanuatu Demographic
health survey, 2013 [76]
Contraceptive use, knowledge,
attitudes and sources
Report
Mixed method: 2,508 women and 1,333
men aged 15–49
• Contraceptive prevalence rate—49%
(married women), 38% (all women)
• The government sector is the primary
source of service and contraception, service
is generally free
• Use is high among currently married
women and high wealth quintile
• Knowledge is high among currently
married and those with 3 to 4 children
• Reasons for not intending to use: fear of
side effects, opposition from respondent/
husband/partner, fertility reasons and lack
of knowledge
White et al., 2018 [77]
Cook Islands
Social and contextual factors
that inform contraceptive
knowledge, attitudes
Original
research
Qualitative study (n = 10) women who
were mothers before aged 20 years old
• Access to contraception is not sufficient,
rates of adolescent pregnancy remains the
same despite availability of services
• Early sexual debut
• Insufficient and inaccurate knowledge
about fertility and SRH services
• Beliefs about sexuality, sex considered
taboo
Zaman et al., 2012 [78]
Asia and Pacific Islands
Current situation of fertility
decline and status of FP
programs in selected countries
in Asia and the Pacific
Report
Not provided
• Initial FP were often embedded in
economic development plans
• Some common characteristics across the
Pacific but also great variation made it
difficult to generalise.
• Analysis of Pacific programs showed a
relationship between fertility transition and
FP
• Some FP programs stalled, reversed or
slowed down
• Adolescents faced largest barriers to the
use of contraceptives for socio-cultural
reasons
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255080.t001
Results
After duplicates were removed, a total of 136 articles were identified from electronic databases
and grey literature. Based on title and the abstract, 47 were excluded with 89 articles retrieved
and assessed for eligibility. Of these, 44 were excluded for the following reasons: 16 studies did
not focus on FP service provision; 13 papers were studies on SRH risks and behaviours; seven
studies were from the DHS and MICS, which showed the same findings as the included DHS
reports; four papers discussed reproductive health training and working frameworks and two
papers were editorial and commentary. Another two studies were excluded because they were
unable to be accessed. The remaining 45 papers, peer-reviewed (n = 15) and grey literature
(n = 30), were reviewed in full (Table 1). Publication types were categorised according to the
Sanson-Fisher typology (Table 1) [44]. The majority (80%) of these studies included Melanesian countries such as Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu and PNG and were mostly descriptive
studies of limited quality, focused mainly on: knowledge, attitudes and barriers to FP; factors
that influence use of contraception; and access to reproductive health services. Meaning units
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Fig 1. PRISMA flow chart for inclusion of articles [43].
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255080.g001
from included papers were identified and extracted to develop codes, categories and themes
(S6 Appendix) [39]. Five themes were identified from the literature, as outlined below.
Family planning services in the Pacific
Family planning services in the Pacific region were available in most health facilities. Thirteen
papers [5, 45, 50, 53, 58, 63, 66–69, 72, 76, 79] described government operated public health
facilities as the main provider where contraceptives are usually free. A further five papers [5,
52, 53, 67, 72] described services provided in a variety of venues such as family planning associations, non government organisations (NGOs) and faith based organisations (FBOs). In
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addition, FP services could also be obtained from private pharmacies and doctors working in
private practices [50]. One paper reported people sourcing contraceptives from relatives overseas [53]. Overall, the most available way to access FP services was reported to be via the government public health system.
Pacific health facilities traditionally operated a once a week session for FP within the context of MCH/FP [34, 54]. This context now included RMNCAH, which means FP was made
available along with other SRH services in the RMNCAH platform. Some settings also provided outreach RMNCAH to extend services to community villages [73]. Most health facilities
in PICTs offered three to five modern contraceptive methods: oral contraceptive pills, long acting reversible contraceptives (injectable and implant), intrauterine contraceptive device, condoms and permanent methods (vasectomy and tubal ligation). Emergency contraceptives are
the least known and used method and not available in most health facilities. The use of traditional methods such as the ‘rhythm’ and ‘withdrawal’ methods were also reported but were not
recommended because they were unreliable [36, 50]. The availability of these methods depend
on the level of health facilities. Higher-level facilities like hospitals and urban centres often provide comprehensive options compared to community facilities like rural health clinics and aid
posts where less options and expertise are available [57, 74].
Overwhelmingly, 18 papers [2, 6, 30, 34, 46, 49, 54, 55, 60, 61, 63, 65–67, 72, 76, 78, 80]
reported that FP services provided were not always accessible to everyone. Services that provide FP were perceived as inconvenient, unsatisfactory, and not culturally sensitive [51]. Services were usually female oriented; men were not involved and often not targeted in
educational awareness of safe motherhood initiatives [54, 55, 78]. Married women aged 20 to
35 were the most common cohort accessing FP services [2, 46, 55, 63, 65, 66]. Unmarried
women or unmarried adolescents (12–19 years) [2, 55, 61, 65, 67, 71, 78], older women (over
40 years) [30] and men aged 15–54 [47, 49, 54] years were relatively neglected in FP clinics.
Pacific countries with dispersed island populations and remote locations also received poor
services [63, 70, 72]. Although the emphasis on providing services for outer islands and rural
communities has been articulated, the actual implementation has varied depending on available resources and support including staffing, political commitment and logistic systems. Evidence about the extent to which FP services are reaching those who use the service and how
the service was provided at the health facility level was lacking in the literature [30, 47].
Most PICTs are committed to upholding human rights and have adopted policies based on
the principle of free and ‘informed choice’ for all couples and individuals [50]. Reports on the
existence and use of relevant SRHR policies in five Pacific countries (Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon
Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu [70–74], including ICPD progress reports [3, 18, 21], showed
some PICTs have used some form of SRH policies. Other PICTs have SRH policies in either
draft form or under development. The incorporation of these policies into national strategies
in PICTs occurred in varying degrees. These policies aim to provide an enabling environment
where reproductive rights of women and men can be fully recognised and exercised. However,
for those PICTs who have polices, most are outdated. In some cases, policies are not visibly
available and approaches to FP shown to be ineffective [34]. For example in Tonga [73], there
are no mentoring programs to monitor skills retention. In Kiribati [70] SRH care is not standardised across all health facilities due to lack of FP guidelines. Where guidelines and tools are
available, they can only be effective if supplies to meet increased demand are available [59].
The UNFPA progress report [14] also highlighted that achievement of reproductive health
rights are yet to be fully established in the Pacific region.
The integration of SRH, including FP within PHC service is part of the comprehensive
SRH package prioritised in PICTs. Integration in this review refers to integration of population
policies into sector plans and strategies and integration of FP services within the SRH platform
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at the program and health facility levels. Hayes and Robertson [50] reported most Pacific
countries have incorporated reproductive health including FP into national and subnational
development plans. However, assessments of SRH programs in some Pacific countries showed
integration was not fully implemented [70–74]. There is less progress in the integration of population policies into sector plans [21]. At the program level, although the MCH/FP focus has
changed to RMNCAH to enhance inclusivity for everyone, there is little focus on STIs including HIV, abortion, infertility, and adolescent health by FP clinics [57, 72]. Evidence also suggests that clinics for STIs, including HIV, are delivered separately from routine reproductive
health clinics in some PICTs [14, 28, 55, 62, 63, 65, 68, 69, 72].
The availability of quality and relevant SRH, including FP data was a common and ongoing
challenge in PICTs. Robertson [36] and UNFPA [14, 70, 72, 74] documented poor reporting
systems and processes that made it difficult to determine whether valid data existed for most
countries. Prior to 2006, DHS were undertaken in only two countries in the region: PNG and
Samoa. As such, the use of contraceptives could be under-reported. One example is the difference in CPRs reported in the DHS when compared to Ministry of Health (MOH) reports. This
difference could be because women are accessing contraception from private pharmacies, private practitioner and other NGOs and this data is not routinely being captured in the national
data [78]. Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve current reporting systems so that all
parties communicate more effectively to produce an accurate reflection of CPRs in the Pacific
context.
Information on unmet needs for contraceptives was not initially included [36]. The sociocultural and demographic diversity of PICTs made it difficult to interpret certain indicators and
targets such as maternal mortality rates, within the context of very small populations. The disparities that existed across socio-economic groups contributed to the challenge of monitoring
progress to achieve target goals [21]. While most countries are now able to conduct population
census, the capacity to process, analyse and interpret survey results from policy perspectives
remains limited [18]. Routine health information systems will need to be validated, and capture
contextual issues, that can inform relevant policies and FP service outcomes.
Education, knowledge and attitudes
The education, knowledge and attitudes of FP service users was a common theme among the
reviewed literature [2, 5, 6, 46, 48, 49, 53, 54, 56, 58, 61–63, 65–69, 76, 77]. The service user’s
knowledge about the different contraceptive methods varied across countries by education levels, gender, marital status, parity, age group, wealth quintiles and where they live. While it is
expected that women with higher education levels (more than secondary education) are more
likely to use contraceptives to delay pregnancy because they may have greater exposure to contraceptive knowledge and options, some exceptions and inconsistencies were reported [46,
48]. For example, some women were unaware of important information about contraceptives,
such as the availability and use of emergency contraceptives and the use of condoms to prevent
pregnancy [61]. Nine reports of DHS conducted in PICTs between 2007 and 2018 [53, 58, 62,
63, 66–69, 76] showed a consistent result of almost universal contraceptive knowledge among
married women and men above 40 years of age but lower knowledge levels in the unmarried
and adolescent cohorts. Increased contraceptive knowledge was also seen in women with
higher parity (>3) compared to women with lower parity (<2). Contraceptive knowledge
according to wealth quintiles and rural or urban dwelling also showed inconsistent findings
throughout PICTs. This knowledge is defined as having heard about a method, however, for
adolescents, they lack knowledge about services and important information on pregnancy prevention, condom use, puberty, sexuality and relationships [2, 48].
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Contraceptive use was relatively low in PICTs. Davis [49] and Naidu et al., [61] reported
that having high contraceptive knowledge did not always translate to use of contraceptives and
having heard about a method did not always influence individual decisions. For example, in
Kiribati and Marshall Islands, contraceptive use was high among those with low or no education and lower among the highly educated populations, compared to Solomon Islands and
PNG [53, 58, 63]. In Samoa, there was no difference by use in rural and urban settings [66],
whereas in Tonga, women in urban settings are less likely to use contraceptives than their
rural counterparts [68]. In PNG, men’s educational background increases the likelihood of
women’s use of contraceptives, and male literacy contributed to men’s participation in FP
[54]. The DHS reports included in this review [53, 58, 62, 63, 66–69, 76] further detailed that
more than half of the men interviewed say they knew that their wives or partners used contraceptives, but only a few countries reported it was a joint decision. In addition, many women in
PICTs (>70%) did not intend to use contraception in the future regardless of their knowledge
of contraceptives. Contraceptive knowledge, use and attitudes will need to be understood
within the respective PICT contexts before relevant strategies can be implemented.
A health worker’s education, knowledge and positive attitude is essential to the success of
FP services in PICTs. Health workers need education to increase knowledge, confidence and
skills to empower couples and individuals to make informed contraceptive choices [57]. Marshall [57] and the UNFPA report on the Pacific’s RMNCAH workforce [81] reported that not
all health workers had adequate knowledge about the risks, uses and options for contraceptives
available to women. There was also a lack of knowledge and skills to dispense contraceptives
and how best to deliver FP services. This includes the ability to give appropriate contraceptive
counselling advice; practical skills to insert uterine devices or implants; and communicating
with and managing adolescents [6, 48, 77]. This means planners in PICTs will need to explore
if skill mix and task shifting will be beneficial in their context.
Some health workers also lack the training required and slowly abandon their moralistic
attitudes to deliver effective adolescent SRH services [78]. In some PICTs contexts, even if
training in FP was provided, negative attitudes and beliefs of health workers about contraceptives influenced whether the health workers promoted or discouraged adolescents from accessing the service and using contraceptives [5, 34, 60]. A recent report on the status of the
RMNCAH workforce in the Pacific region [81] stated that most countries in the region have
sufficient nurses who are competent to provide the RMNCAH care, including FP. However,
there is also an overall shortage of nurse-midwives, and these healthcare workers will have
multiple responsibilities additional to RMNCAH, meaning FP may not be prioritised or provided when needed. Adding to this challenge is the high staff turnover and the education and
recruitment of RMNCAH workers, as many smaller countries did not have their own education institutions to provide this specialised training. For health workers working in remote
areas, further training opportunities are often limited, therefore, the lack of training incentives
also influenced the way health workers deliver FP services in PICTs.
Geographical isolation and access
Accessibility of SRH services in PICTs is a particular challenge due to geography and climate.
These countries are predominantly sparsely populated, small island nations dispersed across the
Pacific. Some remote geographical locations make access to family planning services difficult [2,
73]. The majority of the population in most PICTs live in rural, often isolated areas or atolls with
limited infrastructure such as roads, electricity and running water [14, 21, 55, 70, 73]. Access to
health services is often threatened by bad weather, rough seas for those who live in coastal islands
and flooded rivers for those who live on large islands [60]. People survive on subsistence farming
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and fishing, and the health centre is often too far away to reach. Irregular supplies of medical equipment and drugs to the clinic can result in unavailability of contraceptives for women and men at
point of need. The cost of travelling is expensive, and additionally prohibitive if people have to
make return visits to the health centre or if contraceptives are out of stock [3, 9, 13, 21]. Access to
FP services depends upon the adequate geographical spread of health facilities and a health workforce supported by reliable transport and communication networks [81]. Therefore, reliable and
updated information about the country’s health systems and effective planning are important to
address resource allocations to prepare for expected and unexpected adverse situations.
Socio-cultural beliefs, practices and influences
Most of the reviewed papers acknowledged the strong negative influence of socio-cultural and
religious beliefs and practices relating to SRH issues in the Pacific [3, 5, 6, 14, 30, 34, 36, 46–49,
52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 63, 65, 66, 68, 69, 73, 74, 76, 77]. Socio-cultural and religious beliefs and
practices are very important to people in the Pacific. These beliefs and practices play a major
role in community life, and the ubiquitous Christianisation of the Pacific by missionaries that
enabled colonisation is associated with the idea of refusing contraception. [5, 60]. The common reasons reported in the literature as barriers to contraceptive use mainly rose from misconceptions, health concerns and a mixture of cultural and religious beliefs. Understanding
and acknowledging these sociocultural influences is important to identify acceptable ways to
reach people with FP services.
Although socio-cultural practices are seen to constrain progress in SRH including FP [3], in
some PICTs, culture is viewed both as a way to promote, as well as constrain, SRH [21]. This
reflects the hyper-diverse culture in the three main ethnic groups: Melanesia, Polynesia and
Micronesia [14]. For example, in Samoa, women hold important traditional roles in society
and can promote FP. In Kiribati, men have the traditional role in taking care of their wives
during pregnancy and childbirth; therefore, they will have already fulfilled the role of men as
partners in reproductive health [21, 70]. In Solomon Islands, an ‘O clinic’ (Ovulation clinic)
was provided for those who wish to use the natural methods for cultural, religious or health
reasons. Such opportunities to promote FP will need to be further explored when dealing with
constraining issues in the socio-cultural context in PICTs [34].
The physical layout of health facilities and how services are delivered present barriers to service access in some PICTs. Burslem et al., [46] and Kennedy et al., [5] reported that some
health facilities in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, including those providing FP services, were
considered not culturally suitable or accessible according to acceptable norms surrounding
modern contraceptive use. These norms include gender-access issues, husband/partner opposition and beliefs that using contraceptives will encourage promiscuity, and use is therefore
morally wrong for unmarried women and young people [34, 49]. One barrier that stands out
in the reviewed literature is the culturally insensitive FP services that are not conducive for
men or young people to access [36, 47, 49]. The gender of the service provider often affected
men or women’s access, and the lack of privacy and confidentiality was a common hindrance
for young people and the marginalised groups [52]. While adolescents may have adequate
knowledge about the importance of using contraception, they may be denied access because
the service did not offer culturally appropriate options to ensure inclusivity [6, 46, 52, 55, 60].
The desire for many children is consistently described in the DHS reports, with men
expressing wanting more children than women [53, 58, 62, 63, 66–69, 76]. Having larger families is an accepted cultural norm in the Pacific region. Children are valued as future social and
economic gains and security [34, 50]. Although the number of children per woman in PICTs
has been declining since the 1970s, one paper recently reported having three to five children
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was seen as ideal [56]. It is important to note that remnants of traditional practices and ideologies to limit fertility still exist in some Pacific countries. However, Hayes and Robertson [50]
considered using traditional ‘modes of reproduction’ to encourage Pacific Island people to
adopt family planning has not been an effective strategy. The reasons are many and complex,
and can be traced back to the initial contacts with missionaries and later colonial authorities,
which resulted in the criminalisation of some traditional population control methods such as
abortion and infanticide; postpartum abstinence and abstinence from sexual activity during
ceremonial events. However, Lincoln et al., [56] suggested, if future family planning programs
could also address the number of children in an ideal family unit, this could potentially be a
way forward to ensure contraceptives are acceptable in PICTs.
With the introduction of pronatalist policies by missionaries and colonial authorities, some
earlier control practices were considered immoral. Formal laws regarding marriage, births and
deaths were formulated, and most derived from the Christian ‘laws’. One belief the church has
instilled, that has become a common religious barrier to contraceptive use, was that children
are a “gift from God” and having more children is a good thing [50]. However, despite this barrier, some PICTs have found ways to deal with this belief. For example in Kiribati, although
faced with religious opposition, the injectable contraceptive Depo Provera was acceptable and
commonly used by Catholics, as opposed to longer-term methods which are considered unacceptable [53]. In Vanuatu, traditional leaders and religious groups were becoming more
accepting of reproductive health and rights [21]. Hence, opportunities can be sought in the
diverse cultures of PICTs to promote acceptable strategies to deal with religious beliefs.
Potential enabling factors for improved family planning
Strategies to improve FP service provision and access in PICTs are outlined in nine of the
reviewed papers [2, 36, 55, 59, 70–74].The importance of effective collaboration between government sectors, NGOs and private sectors was shown to increase access and avoid duplication
of services. For example, adolescents in Vanuatu [5] prefer services provided by NGOs, as they
were perceived to be more accessible, friendly and competent in helping people in this age
group compared to government services. Integration of population policies such as SRH into
other government sector plans were found to be beneficial in these small island states, where a
lack of resources such as funding and staffing is prevalent [81]. Where contextual challenges
such as cultural norms, religious obligations and geographic limitations occur, friendly service
providers and context specific strategies are needed to implement relevant services [5, 47, 72].
Family planning education and health programs have been shown to positively influence
contraceptive use. However, this review also identified that FP education in schools is underutilised in PICTs [2, 52, 57, 77] and there is a need to utilise peer educators, parents and schools
to promote FP education in PICTs. Health education programs need to invest in a broad range
of informational resources and utilise a multi-faceted approach to reach young people who are
attending or not attending school and to reach other adolescents in both geographically isolated areas and urban settings [2, 52, 77]. In Tonga, a ‘settings approach’ to SRH program
including awareness talks in schools, villages, workplaces, churches and radio talkback shows,
was shown to improve young people’s knowledge about SRH services [73]. Reproductive
health and FP education have been implemented in PICTs, but education materials need to be
translated into local languages and presented in culturally sensitive ways [28, 59]. Different
strategies are required for male, female, adolescent or mixed audiences. Attaining higher education levels and obtaining education on SRH and FP are not enough [49]. Evidence-based
motivational interviewing and behavioural change action are required to meet individual contraceptive needs and deal with contextual barriers.
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Educating and involving men in reproductive health has been a missed opportunity to
improve services [49]. It is important to engage boys and men early in the reproductive life
cycle [49]. Most RMNCAH care services in PICTs do not actively engage expectant fathers
and fathers of young children. An evaluation of male involvement in reproductive health
(MIRH) in Fiji and Solomon Islands [64] and a study of MIRH in PNG [54] showed an acceptance of MIRH in Pacific contexts, with MIRH seen as a key opportunity to break down cultural barriers and norms to accessing FP services and the use of modern contraceptives by
women and men. A qualitative study [49] on perspectives of policy makers and practitioners
in Cook Islands, Fiji, PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu also noted that the inception of
MIRH prompted men to appreciate their role in FP and to better support their wives. However, context-appropriate strategies are needed for health service providers to engage men and
deal with sensitivities relating to culture when discussing sexual health issues with them [36].
The increasing youth population and their early sexual debut in PICTs compared to other
world regions suggest that this group warrants more attention [52]. Adolescent-focused services have been recently implemented but these lack culturally sensitive approaches, confidentiality and privacy [81]. In rural communities, engaging community gate-keepers in
education awareness is vital [57, 73]. This will enable community involvement in distributing
SRH information and extending FP awareness. Overall, FP needs further research to understand the changing behaviours of Pacific peoples so that SRH care including contraception service approaches are based on current evidence for PICTs [21, 45].
Discussion
This is the first scoping review to explore and summarise the provision of FP services in
PICTs. The results provide a baseline for researchers, policy makers and program managers as
they seek to implement relevant strategies to improve FP services in the Pacific region. This
review shows that PICTs did not follow the expectation of the standard demographic transition model. The transition from high to low fertility and death rates and increasing CPR did
not translate to economic progress [78, 82]. Growing environmental pressures including
urgent threats of climate change compound new challenges to population growth, increasing
urbanisation and migration from rural to urban centres [83]. While some common characteristics are seen across PICTs in the provision of FP, progress and challenges, there are also great
variations and diversities in country contexts, which make it difficult to generalise across countries. This is consistent with the WHO and UNFPA reports for LMICs [7, 29].
Since the ICPD, FP services in PICTs have been provided by government public health systems; while typically free of charge, FP services are not accessible to everyone. Subsequent
reviews of ICPD progress [3, 18] revealed inequitable access to FP provided from health facilities. Men, adolescents and geographically marginalised groups including those on outer
islands, are still not adequately reached [21]. The increasing growth in the youth population
and a consistent lack of access to service among this group in PICTs warrants an urgent review
of individual country strategies to reposition FP in country contexts.
At the political and policy levels, there is strong support and commitment for SRHR among
PICTs and most have an official policy to guide SRHR implementation. However, these political commitments and policies have had little impact on achieving reproductive health and
rights for PICT populations. This could reflect the ongoing global controversy about SRHR
[84]. There are also possibilities that either research evidence has not informed current policies
or health workers were not aware of existing policies. This is consistent with a study in PNG
[85] where most health workers had not viewed official policy or statements about HIV.
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Funding issues, contextual factors, staff shortages and the need for further training are
ongoing challenges faced by PICTs and other LMICs [86, 87]. At the program level, many
reproductive health programs have worked in “silos” (working in isolation, not sharing information, goals, priorities or processes) rather than integrating with other SRH services (for
example STI services and FP) [72]. Existing strategies such as the RMNCAH to integrate family planning into other SRH services are not fully implemented [72]. This requires countryspecific strategies to evaluate what may work best in each context. In addition, the inadequate
reporting systems in PICTs raises the question of the quality of data that reports SRH and FP
indictors. The targets or goals could be too ambitious for these small developing states to
achieve. For example, patterns of unmet needs for FP and CPRs varied so much across PICTs
that it was necessary to take a country-by-country approach [88].
Health workers often lack appropriate knowledge about FP services [14]. Staff numbers,
skills and resources including funding remain inadequate [89]. Strategies such as skill mix and
task shifting have been found to alleviate workforce challenges and skill mix imbalances in low
income countries [90]. It is essential to engage and collaborate with local community leaders
and women’s groups to empower the community, as they know what is required to inform
strategic planning to enhance universal access. One program in Fiji demonstrated the power
of moving out of silos in health settings and engaging community members [91]. This empowerment program including workshops attended by disempowered young mothers was conducted in a rural community with high rates of teenage pregnancies and low contraceptive
use. Topics such as reproductive health and rights, available support services, networking and
financial literacy were presented. The results revealed a 30% increase in uptake of SRH services
and young mothers were motivated to make positive changes in their lives [91].
The PICTs are culturally and spiritually diverse, and this needs to be taken into account when
planning and delivering health services. This diversity is reflected in the way men participate in FP
and how health workers deliver services. In most PICTs, the negative attitudes of some health workers and service users towards FP and modern contraception have widened the gap between knowledge and practice [6, 61, 77]. These attitudes are mainly influenced by the socio-cultural and
religious beliefs of people. A study on community influences on young women in LMICs concluded
that young women’s contraceptive decision-making is greatly shaped by their social contexts [92].
However, cultural shifts in societal attitudes observed in some PICTs may facilitate progress
[88, 93]. In Vanuatu, village leaders are now more open to discussions about SRH and young
people are more receptive to information, so this can be a potential way to explore how to deal
with cultural and spiritual barriers to access [21]. Culture and religion influence access to and
use of contraception and could serve as barriers. Unexpectedly, we found PICTs have experienced situations when religion and culture could support a process towards FP [78]. For
instance, the Catholic Church policy may not promote the use of modern contraception but
international evidence suggests that people who identify as Catholic do make use of contraceptives [94, 95]. Although patterns of unmet need in contraception varied among PICTs, analysis
from DHS reports showed that the main reason for high unmet need was not access but
‘unwillingness’ arising from fear of side-effects, health concerns and some form of socio-cultural opposition [10, 78]. This means DHS reports may need further analysis.
The relationship between education and contraceptive use is inconclusive in PICTs. As evidenced in the literature, despite several decades of FP programs including Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaigns to improve knowledge and awareness of
contraceptive methods, women continue to report lack of knowledge and fear of side effects
[60, 61]. In addition to providing relevant and simplified IEC materials to increase understanding, spousal communication and male involvement in decision–making can positively
influence FP use and continuation [96]
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Education alone is not enough; dealing with barriers in a culturally sensitive manner may
reduce socio-cultural issues. A study based in Timor-Leste and PNG revealed that although
men had good knowledge in some areas of SRH, their attitudes regarding gender roles and violence against women reflected the social norms of more patriarchal societies [97]. In these settings, most men view the husband as the primary decision-maker, and a small percentage of
men surveyed believed it was acceptable for a husband to beat his wife. However, in another
study conducted in rural PNG, young men were more receptive to biomedical information
than older men, and were more likely to engage with health services directly and support their
wives to use implants [98]. In PICTs, men’s involvement showed improvement in women’s
access to FP services, but culturally appropriate strategies are needed to ensure universal access
by men. Achieving gender equality in SRH will require strategies to be explored for their applicability and sustainability in local settings.
The ways that health services are delivered and the location of FP clinics are causes for limited access. A recent study from a setting that holds strong cultural taboos in reproductive
issues in Solomon Islands showed that the FP clinic could not be accessed because of its location and how it was made available [99]. Inappropriate models of service delivery were identified in this review, such as service providers’ insensitivities to different cultural, social and
gendered groups. Furthermore, evidence shows that adolescents do not want a separate clinic,
only a friendly service provider who is non-judgmental and assures confidentiality [5, 48, 52,
57, 61, 100]. A review of confidentiality in FP services for young people by Brittain et al., [101]
concluded that further research should consider how to best educate young people and providers about state-specific laws related to adolescents and confidential healthcare services, as there
is limited research on the relationship of confidentiality and reproductive health outcomes in
young people.
The PICTs are culturally and geographically diverse and one approach does not fit all, but
there is potential for change at the health service level and for contextual approaches to FP to
improve service and access to contraceptives. Given that women in PICTs have more options
of modern contraceptives than men, further studies are needed on strategies to enable men in
PICTs to fully engage in decision-making regarding the number of children, to ensure universal access.
The following recommendations are based on the evidence presented in this review:
1. The rights-based approach to SRH, including FP, as outlined in the ICPD program of
action [29], needs to be culturally contextualised in PICTs.
2. Current approaches to service delivery need to reflect the reproductive and contraceptive
needs of users and potential users of the service.
3. Appropriate and relevant community engagement, education and awareness tailored to
meet community needs is required.
Limitations
We found limited peer-reviewed studies conducted on FP service provision in most PICTs,
therefore the results in this review may not represent and reflect issues for each PICT. The
scoping review methodology may not have identified all sources. Results as reported could be
limited by the methodological quality of the articles, as the majority of papers included are
from the grey literature. The quality of data analysed in the papers may be of low quality given
the challenges of poor reporting systems and incomplete data available in PICTs. Hence,
reported literature may not give an accurate and clear picture of the situation in all PICTs.
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Conclusion
Family planning services in PICTs do not reach many people: a person’s age, gender, marital
and social status, religion, ability or proximity to health centres can impact access to FP services. If this trend continues, universal access to reproductive health services including FP will
be an ongoing challenge. The higher education level of girls, high contraceptive knowledge
and mostly free services in PICTs do not necessarily lead to increased use of modern contraceptives and access to FP services. Many contextual challenges remain in each Pacific country
and territory in terms of both supply and demand side of FP and SRH services. Considering
the heterogeneous cultural diversity of PICTs, generation of local evidence is crucial to make
relevant and sustainable improvements in service delivery. Further research is required to
understand availability, accessibility and acceptability of current FP services to meet the needs
of people of different genders, age groups, and social and marital status to inform FP services
in PICTs that leaves no one behind.
Supporting information
S1 Appendix. Review protocol.
(PDF)
S2 Appendix. PRISMA-ScR checklist.
(PDF)
S3 Appendix. Eligibility criteria.
(PDF)
S4 Appendix. Key words.
(PDF)
S5 Appendix. Search strategy.
(PDF)
S6 Appendix. Selection of sources of evidence.
(PDF)
S7 Appendix. Data charting.
(PDF)
S8 Appendix. Example coding process.
(PDF)
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank James Cook University Librarians, for assistance with database literature searches and Endnote software referencing and Dr Karen Cheer for editing the
manuscript.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization: Relmah Baritama Harrington, Nichole Harvey, Sarah Larkins, Michelle
Redman-MacLaren.
Data curation: Relmah Baritama Harrington, Nichole Harvey, Sarah Larkins, Michelle Redman-MacLaren.
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Formal analysis: Relmah Baritama Harrington, Nichole Harvey, Sarah Larkins, Michelle Redman-MacLaren.
Investigation: Relmah Baritama Harrington, Michelle Redman-MacLaren.
Methodology: Relmah Baritama Harrington, Nichole Harvey, Sarah Larkins, Michelle Redman-MacLaren.
Project administration: Relmah Baritama Harrington, Nichole Harvey, Michelle RedmanMacLaren.
Resources: Relmah Baritama Harrington, Nichole Harvey, Sarah Larkins, Michelle RedmanMacLaren.
Software: Relmah Baritama Harrington, Michelle Redman-MacLaren.
Supervision: Sarah Larkins, Michelle Redman-MacLaren.
Validation: Relmah Baritama Harrington, Nichole Harvey, Sarah Larkins, Michelle RedmanMacLaren.
Visualization: Relmah Baritama Harrington, Nichole Harvey, Sarah Larkins, Michelle Redman-MacLaren.
Writing – original draft: Relmah Baritama Harrington, Michelle Redman-MacLaren.
Writing – review & editing: Relmah Baritama Harrington, Nichole Harvey, Sarah Larkins,
Michelle Redman-MacLaren.
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