[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.