Public Health Research 2021, 11(2): 33-43 DOI: 10.5923/j.phr.20211102.01 Assessing the Quality, Use and Determinant of Family Planning Services: The Case of Panjgur District, Balochistan Farzana Hameed 1 , Sanaullah Panezai 1,* , Shahab E. Saqib 2 , Kaneez Fatima 3 1 Department of Geography and Regional Planning, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan 2 Department of Commerce Education & Management Sciences, Higher Education Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan 3 Institute of Management Sciences, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan Abstract Pakistan’s population is growing at an alarmingly high rate which poses a demand for access to family planning (FP) services. As of 2017, the country had a 208 million population and an annual growth rate of 2.1%. In the context of Balochistan province, limited is known about the quality and use of family planning services. This study aims to assess the quality and use of family planning services and associated factors in the Panjgur district of Balochistan province. For this case study, the data were collected from 400 randomly selected respondents through a field survey during October to December 2018 with the help of field assistants. The data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings show almost two-third had no to little knowledge about the importance of FP. However, 72.50% were using the PF services, mostly by the 35–44year age group. One-fourth were dissatisfied with the availability of female doctors at public health care facilities. Almost two-thirds (64%) received contraceptives through lady health visitors. One-fourth had back pain. The results of regression analysis revealed that in predisposing factors, age, family size, women’s education, and husband’s education and occupation were associated with the use of FP services. Similarly, in enabling factors, monthly income, availability of a female doctor and lady health visitor’s knowledge about FP, ease in access to contraceptives, and quality of FP services were found significant. In the case of need factors, type of illness and health status were associated with the use of FP services. The findings of this study suggest that strengthening of out-reach services of lady health visitors, availability of female doctors at primary health care facilities, awareness about the importance of birth-spacing, and increasing free provision of contraceptives to the married couple can enhance the quality and use of FP services. Keywords Family planning services, Use of family planning services, Contraceptives, Basic health units, PPHI, BHU, Birth space, Panjgur, Balochistan, Pakistan 1. Introduction Family planning (FP) is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as, “the ability of individuals and couples to anticipate and attain their desired number of children and the spacing and timing of their births. It is achieved through the use of contraceptive methods and the treatment of involuntary infertility” (Institute of Medicine Committee 2009). The services of family planning include the provision of contraception (to plan birth spacing, to avoid unintentional pregnancies, and decrease the number of abortions), proposing counseling for pregnant women, help those who wish to perceive, offering infertility treatments and preconception health facilities to improve the health of * Corresponding author: sanaullah.panezai@gmail.com (Sanaullah Panezai) Received: Apr. 16, 2021; Accepted: May 24, 2021; Published: Jun. 26, 2021 Published online at http://journal.sapub.org/phr mothers and infants, as well as provide screening and treatment services for sexually transferred disease (STD). FP services improve women, men, and infants’ health (Gavin et al., 2014). Globally, as of 2019, around 1.1 billion women need family planning services while 842 million use contraceptive methods and 270 million have an unmet need for contraception among the 1.9 billion women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) (World Health Organization, 2020). In developing countries, the use of FP services is low and is generally limited to prevent accidental pregnancies, maternal and infant mortality rates (Apanga & Adam, 2015). Pakistan's population is growing at an alarming rate (Hassan, 2020; Kanwal Ali, 2020) and it has the highest population growth rate in South Asia as per the 2017 census (Qureshi, 2019). To control the huge outbreak of population and infant and mother’s high mortality rates, access to FP services is mandatory. In Pakistan, FP services are provided through the broad network of Basic Health Units (BHUs)