Abstract
Family planning is "a program to regulate the number and spacing of children in a family through the practice of contraception or other methods of birth control." This paper looks at the relationship between the three components of the Human Development Index, respectively education, health and GNP per capita, and the level of contraception in Latin America as a whole. Contraception and education influence each other, through the decrease of fertility rates and the positive impact of awareness campaigns. Health is also highly correlated with the contraceptive prevalence rate through maternal mortality, infant mortality, and child-mortality and abortion rate, not withstanding the fact that contraception prevents the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. GDP per capita is simultaneously affected by contraception through the decrease in fertility rates and affecting the level of implementation and success of family planning programs.
