Professor John Cleland

Emeritus Professor, Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK

John Cleland is Emeritus Professor of Medical Demography at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). He started his career as a researcher at the Survey Research Centre at London School of Economics (LSE). He then joined the Population Bureau at DFID (then the Overseas Development Administration) before spending three years attached to Fiji’s Medical Department. There followed a long spell with the World Fertility Survey (1975-1985), where in the latter years he was head of research and evaluation. He joined the London School in 1988 and was appointed Professor of Medical Demography in 1993. He retired in 2010 but is still active in research and teaching. He has over 40 years of experience of demographic and social research in developing countries. In Africa, he has conducted studies in Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria. In Asia, his field studies have focussed on Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. His particular research interests concern child mortality, fertility and family planning, sexual behaviour in relation to HIV and implications of population change for socio-economic progress.

He was a member of the Science and Technical Advisory Group to WHO’s Department of Reproductive Health and Research between 1999 and 2005 and on many occasions acted as an advisor to UNAIDS (and its predecessor the Global Programme on AIDS). More recently he has advised both the Gates and Buffett Foundations on family planning. He is currently a member of the advisory committee of a DFID-funded consortium on “Strengthening Evidence for Programming on Unintended Pregnancy”.

Some of his more recent research projects involve examination of the causes and consequences of unintended childbearing in Kenya and Malawi, a pioneering attempt to understand the reasons for avoidance of contraception in Bangladesh and Kenya, a study of the implications of demographic change in Africa with a focus on food security and employment and an analysis of trends in abstinence, condom and contraceptive use in single women in Africa.
He was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 2003 and in 2008 received a CBE for services to social science. He was President of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) from 2006-2009.

Selected Recent Publications

  • Cleland J and Machiyama K (2017) The challenges posed by demographic change in sub-Saharan Africa; a concise overview. Population and Development Review 43 (Suppl 1): 269-286
  • Cleland J (2017) Promotion of intrauterine contraception in low- and middle-income countries: a narrative review. Contraception 95(6):519-528
  • Cleland J (2017) Population growth, employment, and livelihoods: the triple challenge. Journal of Demographic Economics 83(1):51-61
  • Baschieri A, Machiyama K, Floyd S, Dube A, Molesworth A, Chihana M, Glynn J, Crampin A, French N, Cleland J. (2016) Unintended childbearing and child growth in Northern Malawi. Maternal and Child Health Journal
  • Mumah J, Machiyama K, Mutua M, Kabiru C, Cleland J. (2015) Contraceptive adoption, discontinuation, and switching among postpartum women in Nairobi’s slums. Studies in Family Planning 46(4):369-386
  • Shah I, Santhya KG, Cleland J. (2015). Postpartum and post-abortion contraception: from research to programs. Studies in Family Planning 46(4):343-354.
  • Cleland J, Shah I, Daniele M. (2015) Interventions to improve postpartum family planning in low- and middle-income countries: Program implications and research priorities. Studies in Family Planning 46(4): 423-441.
  • Cleland J, Shah I, Benova L. (2015). A fresh look at the level of unmet need for family planning in the postpartum period: its causes, and program implications. International Perspectives on Reproductive and Sexual Health. 4193):155-162.
  • Machiyama K, Baschieri A, Dube A, Crampin C, Glynn J, French N, Cleland J. (2015) An assessment of childbearing preferences in Northern Malawi. (2015). Studies in Family Planning 46(2):161-176.
  • Machiyama K, Cleland J (2014). Unmet need for family planning in Ghana: the shifting contribution of lack of access and attitudinal resistance. Studies in Family Planning 45(2):203-226.
  • Cleland J, Harbison S, Shah I (2014) Unmet need for contraception: issues and challenges. Studies in Family Planning 45(2):105-122
  • Fotso JC, Cleland J, Mberu B, Mutua M, Elungatu P (2013) Birth spacing and child mortality: an analysis of prospective data from the Nairobi urban health and demographic surveillance system. Journal of Biosocial Sciences 45: 779-798
  • Cleland J, Shah I (2013). The contraceptive revolution: focused efforts are still needed. Lancet 381(9878): 1604-6
  • Baschieri A, Cleland J, Floyd S (2013) Reproductive preferences and contraceptive use: a comparison of monogamous and polygamous couples in Northern Malawi. Journal of Biosocial Science 45(2):145-166
  • Dube A, Baschieri A, Cleland J et al. (2012) Fertility intentions and use of contraception among monogamous couples in Northern Malawi in the context of HIV testing; a cross-sectional analysis. PLoS One 7(12): e51861
  • Cleland J, Conde-Agudelo A, Peterson H, Ross J, Tsui A (2012) Contraception and health. Lancet 380(9837):149-156.
  • Cleland J, Ndugwa RP, Zulu EM (2011) Family planning in sub-Saharan Africa: progress or stagnation? Bulletin of the World Health Organization 89:137-142.
  • Cleland, J., Bernstein, S., Ezeh, A., Faundes, A., Glasier, A., Innis, J. (2006) Family planning: the unfinished agenda. Lancet, 368(9549):1810-1827.
  • Cleland, J. Ali, MM. (2006) Sexual abstinence, contraception and condom use by young African women: a secondary analysis of survey data. Lancet, 368(9549):1788-1793.