Jamaica has skilled a big decline in its complete fertility price (TFR), dropping from 4.5 births per feminine within the interval between 1973 and 1975 to 1.9 in 2021.
This decline has contributed to a lower within the nation’s inhabitants estimate.
These findings had been revealed within the Reproductive Well being Survey Jamaica (RHS) 2021, which was formally launched to the general public by the Nationwide Household Planning Board (NFPB) on the Jamaica Pegasus Resort in New Kingston.
In response to Professor Affette McCaw-Binns, an knowledgeable in Sexual and Reproductive Well being and Epidemiology who introduced the findings, the age-specific fertility charges decreased in all age teams aside from these aged 25-29 years. This pattern possible signifies a delayed onset of childbearing till the late 20s, as ladies deal with finishing their training.
The TFR represents the typical variety of youngsters anticipated to be born to a lady over her lifetime. With a fertility price of 1.9, Jamaica’s price falls beneath the substitute degree of two.1, which is the typical variety of youngsters wanted to keep up a steady inhabitants, as defined by Professor McCaw-Binns.
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She highlighted that the Nationwide Inhabitants Coverage, developed in 1983, aimed to realize replacement-level fertility by providing high-quality household planning companies.
RHS survey
The RHS 2021 surveyed 3,224 females and 1,784 males aged 15-49 years, with information collected between August 2021 and April 2022. Forty-six % of respondents resided in rural areas, 32 % in city facilities outdoors the Kingston Metropolitan Area (KMR), and 22 % throughout the KMR.
Of the contributors, 61 % had been in a union (married, common-law, or visiting relationship), whereas 39 % weren’t.
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The survey was carried out by principal investigators from the NFPB and the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), with goals together with assessing progress in direction of replacement-level fertility, informing sexual and reproductive well being insurance policies, and updating information on varied well being indicators.
The 2021 RHS marks the eighth family survey documenting entry to and effectiveness of contraceptive companies in Jamaica, with the primary carried out in 1975 as a part of the World Fertility Survey of Reproductive Age Girls.
Learn extra: Jamaica’s Health Minister concerned about declining birth rates
