Name: Let's put birth control back on the agenda
Uploaded: 2012-04-11T15:02:06Z
Duration: 25 min 16 s
Description: Contraception. The topic has become controversial in recent years. But should it be? Melinda Gates believes that many of the world's social change issues depend on ensuring that women are able to control their rate of having kids. In this significant talk at TEDxChange, she makes the case for the world to re-examine an issue she intends to lend her voice to for the next decade.

Contraception. The topic has become controversial in recent years. But should it be? Melinda Gates believes that many of the world's social change issues depend on ensuring that women are able to control their rate of having kids. In this significant talk at TEDxChange, she makes the case for the world to re-examine an issue she intends to lend her voice to for the next decade.

Let's put birth control back on the agenda

Access to contraception empowers women to choose when and whether to have children, shaping healthier and more prosperous families. In places like Senegal, where only 12 percent of women use contraception, many risk their lives due to lack of access. History shows that when families can plan births, economic and social progress accelerates. Ensuring birth control is available worldwide could save hundreds of thousands of women and children every year.