Door-to-door distribution working in Bangladesh.

In 1975 an experimental 3-year program was begun by the Cholera Research Laboratory in Bangladesh to test the feasibility and effectiveness of distributing oral contraceptives on a door-to-door basis. Matlab, a rural area with a population density higher than the country's average, was chosen for the test because the Cholera Research Laboratory had been located there since 1963 and because solid demographic data on the local population already existed. The program used local, mostly illiterate lady Village Workers and a few better-educated male field workers. Pill acceptance and usage was correlated with high parity; religion, education of the husband and wife, and occupation of the husband played little part in contraceptive acceptance. Neither Hindus nor Muslims opposed household contraceptive distribution, a change in the situation of several years ago. Follow-up data on side effects experienced were collected. No serious side effects occurred.