Family planning in East Timor

DILI, East Timor: Some 43 percent of an estimated 106,000 fertile couples in the predominantly Roman Catholic East Timor are registered as participants of family planning.

An official of the governor's office, Armen Thaher, said that the majority of the couples opted for the injectable birth control method because it is considered to be the least risky and most practical, the Antara news agency reported.

Armen said the government has not yet been able to reach the isolated villages to provide them with family planning services.

He stressed that family planning is being promoted here not as a means of limiting births but regulating them, to ensure the prosperity and peace of the family. (emb)