Table 1 Background information on the respondents

Overall

Fifty-five (N = 55) individuals responded with completed questionnaires (response rate = 42.3%). The sex of respondents was split evenly between male (48%) and female (52%).

Geographic distribution

Of the 55 respondents, the distribution among the WHO geographic regions was as follows: African regions (n = 8), Region of the Americas (n = 13), Eastern Mediterranean Region (n =6), European Region (n = 16), South-East Asia Region (n = 0), Western Pacific Region (n =2), and not reported (n = 10).

Organizations represented

Respondents categorized their organization type as government/ministry (n = 25), an academic/research institution (n = 13), a medical/health organization (n = 11), a United Nations agency (n = 1), other (n = 5).

Work classifications

Respondents described their work as being research/evaluation (n = 13), statistics (n = 13), health/medical and/or service delivery (n = 12), or teaching/training (n = 10), policymaking (n = 9), program development/management (n = 8), reproductive health/family planning services (n = 6), advocacy (n = 3), health communication (n = 2), or other (n = 5).

Note: Respondents could select more than one option for their work.