Women who’re employed are extra seemingly to make use of fashionable contraception, in keeping with detailed findings of the fifth spherical of the National Family Health Survey 2019-21 launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
A short truth sheet was launched in November final yr. The information says that 66.3 per cent of girls who’re employed use a contemporary contraceptive technique, in contrast with 53.4 per cent of girls who will not be employed.
The findings additionally present that contraceptive utilization will increase in communities and areas which have seen extra socio-economic progress. The information exhibits that the ‘Unmet need for family planning methods’ is highest among the many lowest wealth quintile (11.4 per cent) and lowest among the many highest wealth quintile (8.6 per cent). Usage of contemporary contraceptives additionally will increase with earnings, from 50.7 per cent of girls within the lowest wealth quintile to 58.7 per cent of girls within the highest quintile.
“This data adds to the mountain of evidence that proves that development is the best contraceptive,” Poonam Muttreja, the manager director of Population Foundation of India, mentioned. “While there is much to celebrate in the NFHS-5 data, our focus should now be to reach the unreached. We must do more for the marginalized sections of the society, who may be underprivileged on the basis of class, identity or geography.”
The information confirmed that information of contraceptive strategies is sort of common in India—greater than 99 per cent of presently married ladies and men aged between 15 and 49 know a minimum of one fashionable technique of contraception. However, using fashionable contraceptives for household planning stood at solely 56.4%.
“It’s a matter of concern that female sterilisation remains the most popular method of contraception, showing that the onus of family planning continues to be on women. We need to increase the number of birth-spacing methods in the public health system, given that we have a large young population in the reproductive age group, which contributes to 70 per cent of our population momentum,” Muttreja mentioned.
While the countrywide numbers are encouraging, we should do not forget that there are broad inter-regional variations. Five states nonetheless haven’t achieved a replacement-level of fertility of two.1 — the speed at which a inhabitants precisely replaces itself from one era to the subsequent. These states are Bihar (2.98), Meghalaya (2.91)), Uttar Pradesh (2.35), Jharkhand (2.26) and Manipur (2.17).
“Considering the huge population size and profound demographic diversity in the country, context-specific policy and programmes will be needed for states, passing through different stages of the demographic transition,” Muttreja mentioned. “The country needs to prioritise investment in providing quality sexual and reproductive health information and services, education, skill-building and gender equality initiatives for the young population. Our experience shows that targeted social and behaviour change communication campaigns can address social norms, harmful practices, and promote male engagement in family planning.”
