Hyderabad: World Contraception Day takes place on September 26th every year. The annual worldwide campaign centres around a vision where every pregnancy is wanted. Launched in 2007, WCD’s mission is to improve awareness of contraception and to enable young people to make informed choices on their sexual and reproductive health.
History of the Event
World Contraception Day was launched in 2007 as a global campaign to raise awareness about contraception and to empower young people to make informed decisions about their reproductive health. The initiative is supported by a coalition of international organizations, including governments, NGOs, and health professionals, all working together to reduce unintended pregnancies and improve access to contraceptive methods worldwide.
What is contraception?
Contraception is used to prevent pregnancy. This can be a device, a medication, a procedure or a behaviour. Contraception allows a woman control of her reproductive health and affords the woman the ability to be an active participant in her family planning. Some types of contraception protect against sexually transmissible infections (STIs)
Access to contraception is a human right
Every individual must be guaranteed the freedom to protect their reproductive health and to plan their family. Access to contraception is essential to bodily autonomy and to achieving one’s full potential; it helps reduce adolescent births, prevent maternal deaths and further gender equality.
Currently, nearly 257 million women worldwide – most of whom live in low-income and middle-income countries – have an unmet need for modern contraception, which increases their vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections such as HIV, as well as to unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion and preventable maternal death.
We cannot allow women to die due to a lack of access to contraception. We must provide them with what they need to stay safe and to defend their sexual and reproductive health, including in times of crisis and displacement, when their vulnerabilities are heightened.
It can make a profound difference.
Research suggests that meeting the unmet need for contraception could avert more than half of maternal deaths by reducing higher-risk pregnancies, by increasing the spacing between births and by decreasing the likelihood of unsafe abortions.
Importance of contraception for women's health
Contraception is a fundamental aspect of women’s reproductive health, offering a myriad of benefits that extend far beyond the prevention of unintended pregnancies. Hence, understanding the benefits of contraception for women’s health is highly important nowadays. By enabling women to plan and space their pregnancies, contraceptive methods empower them to make informed choices about their bodies, their futures, and their overall well-being. World Contraception Day is also known as Global Family Planning Day.
- Improved maternal and child health: Contraception plays a crucial role in reducing high-risk pregnancies, lowering maternal and infant mortality rates, and promoting optimal birth spacing, which is essential for the health and development of both mother and child.
- Prevention of unintended pregnancies: Unintended pregnancies can have significant emotional, physical, and financial consequences for women and their families. Contraception provides a reliable means of preventing unplanned pregnancies, allowing women to pursue their educational, career, and personal goals without compromising their reproductive autonomy.
- Reduced risk of certain health conditions: Certain contraceptive methods, such as oral contraceptive pills, have been shown to offer additional health benefits, including a reduced risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers, as well as a decreased likelihood of developing certain benign conditions like ovarian cysts and uterine fibroids.
Contraception in India: National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) Report
Knowledge of contraception has gone up in the adolescent population. But despite these facts, more than one-third of men believe that contraception is women’s business, and 20 per cent of men believe that a woman who uses contraception may become promiscuous.
The latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) brings out some interesting facts about family planning and the use of contraceptives.
Female sterilization remains the most popular modern contraceptive method. Among currently married women age 15-49, 38 percent use female sterilization, followed by male condoms (10%) and pills (5%). Ten percent use a traditional method, mostly the rhythm method Among sexually active unmarried women, male condoms are the most commonly used method (27%), followed by female sterilization (21%)
The contraceptive prevalence rate among currently married women aged 15-49 increased from 54 per cent in 2015-16 to 67
per cent in 2019-21. Among sexually active unmarried women aged 15-49, the use of condoms/Nirodhs increased from 12 per cent in 2015-16 to 27 per cent in 2019-21.
The total 'demand satisfied' for family planning among married women aged 15-49 in India increased from 66 percent in 2015-16 to 76 percent in 2019-21 which has already crossed the SDG target of 75 set globally for 2030. The government’s focus on improving easy and affordable access to modern contraceptives is reflected in the fact that 68% of modern method contraceptive users obtain their method from the public health sector, as per NFHS-5 data. Mission Parivar Vikas, one of the government’s flagship programmes, to reduce unmet needs in family planning, has also been a critical factor in the overall improvement.
What is the importance of birth control in India?
Acknowledging that India is now the most populous country in the world, most States have begun to see an optimal total fertility rate to ensure a more stable population growth.The country's rapid population growth puts pressure on resources and services, leading to environmental degradation, poverty, and inequality. The burden on the healthcare system increases, making access to quality healthcare a challenge. Education infrastructure struggles to meet the needs of a growing population, and urbanisation strains infrastructure and basic services. Environmental concerns arise due to the large population's impact on natural resources. Additionally, population growth also creates a dearth of employment opportunities.
Contraceptive methods available in India
Female sterilization: The most common method of contraception in India is female sterilization. Female sterilization is a permanent type of contraception, where the fallopian tubes are blocked or cut to stop sperm from meeting an egg. In India, more than eight in 10 (81%) women who got sterilized underwent the procedure in a public
health sector facility, mostly a government/municipal hospital or a CHC/rural hospital/Block PHC. The total number of Female sterilization users is 146,496 and males is 1,222 as per NFHS-5 data.
Condoms: The condom is also crucial for preventing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), especially HIV (AIDS virus) and the Hepatitis B virus, both of which can be life-threatening. Two-fifths of users of male condoms, 30 per cent of users of injectables, and about one-quarter (24%) of users of IUDs/PPIUDs obtained the method from the private health sector as per NFHS-5 data.
Oral contraceptive Pills: Oral contraceptive tablets or ‘The Pill’ as it was popularly known in the West, is one of the best contraceptive methods available that give women full control as it can be taken in privacy, does not need any special skills or medical intervention to use, and the contraceptive effect is reversible once you stop taking it. Nearly half (45%) of pill users received their supply from the private health sector, and 41 percent received their supply from the public health sector as per NFHS-5 data.
Copper T: Copper T, is one of the two intra-uterine contraceptive methods (IUD) that are freely available in India. The Govt of India has made it popular through its maternal and child health care drives, and it is free of cost.
Silicone vaginal rings: Silicone vaginal rings are again, one of the contraceptive methods available that work on hormone levels. It is a safe and convenient birth control method that works really well if you always use it correctly.
Subcutaneous implants: These are small rods implanted into the inside of your upper arm by a doctor, and they release the contraceptive hormones constantly, for a period of 3 years.
Injectable hormonal contraceptive: The most easily available one in India is called Depo-Provera and costs around Rs 1500 per dose, and you need to get it injected once in 3 months.
Emergency Contraception: Emergency contraception is a way to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex. Often called the morning-after pill, emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) are pills that can be taken up to 120 hours (5 days) after having unprotected sex. The brand names commonly available are I-Pill and Unwanted-72, and you must take it as soon as possible, 72 hours after unprotected sex.
Tubectomy, Vasectomy, and other permanent contraceptive methods: Both tubectomy and vasectomy are surgical methods of contraception, permanent for all practical reasons. These can, if needed, be reversed by a second surgery, but should be considered only if you have completed your family, or intend to be child-free.
The lowest use of the public health sector as a source for modern contraceptives was in Tripura (39%), followed by Delhi (44%), and Manipur and Assam (49% each). In contrast, among the states, 85 per cent of modern contraceptive method users in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh obtained their method from the public health sector, followed by 81 per cent in Karnataka. Use of the public health sector for modern contraceptive methods is also very high in the union territories of Ladakh (92%) Puducherry (83%), and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands (83%). Two-thirds of male condom users in Mizoram (67%), 62 per cent in Sikkim, and 53 per cent in Kerala obtained their method from the public health sector, compared with only 12 per cent in Uttarakhand.
