How doctors in Bolivia and the Philippines view sterilization

Attitudes toward sterilization of 165 Bolivian obstetrican/gynecologists surveyed in 1974 and those of a randomly selected group of 200 Philippine family planning physicians studied in 1972 are described. Although the attitudes of Bolivian respondents were less favorable to sterilization, a majority of both groups of physicians favored making sterilization available under certain conditions. In Bolivia, physicians with more favorable attitudes toward sterilization were more likely to be younger, to be male, to have a lower degree to religiosity, and to regard high fertility as a problem for the family rather than the state or society. Tentative explanations are offered for the differences in attitudes between the two groups of physicians. Finally, the increasing demand for, and availability of, sterilization in Latin America is noted.