How much can improvement in contraceptive continuation rates raise prevalence in Pakistan?

The latest Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2006-07 indicates stagnation in contraceptive use for almost a decade at 30%. The gap between ever and current use is increasing along with high discontinuation rates. However, results from a recently implemented family planning project in 14 districts of Pakistan show improvements in CPR and contraceptive continuation rates by 8.5 and 11 percentage points respectively. Using survival analysis and the decomposition techniques we examine the underlying factors leading to improved continuation rates and their effect in increasing the CPR. The analysis includes monthly contraceptive histories of 10,604 women in the baseline and 9,995 women in the endline survey. Results show that information on the management of side effects provided at the time of method adoption is significantly associated with lower discontinuations, observed in the decrease of discontinuations due to side effects. Findings will not only highlight the importance of continued contraceptive use they will also have serious implications in elevating currently stagnant CPR.