Top 15 Interesting Facts About Contraceptives

Introduction

Proper family planning methods can help couples and women have the desired number of children, by spacing the pregnancy according to their conditions.

Information about various contraceptive methods and their usage are widely available. Contraceptives can be obtained from any healthcare facility, pharmacy or hospitals. A clinician or gynecologist need to be consulted for invasive contraceptive procedures such as Intrauterine Contraceptive Devices (IUD) and sterilization.

Facts and Figures

1. In the United States of America, nonpermanent contraceptives methods, such as contraceptives pills, Intrauterine Contraceptive Devices (IUDs) and condoms are being used by 67% of women, whereas 25% of them rely on female and 8% percentage rely on male sterilization.
2. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey, in the UK around 75 % of women aged 16-49 years and men aged 16-69 years used contraception. The most popular of them was the contraceptive pill and the male condom, which accounted for 25 % of the total contraceptive use.
3. In 1952, India was considered to be the first country to successfully launch a national programme for family planning.
4. The oral contraceptive pill and female sterilization method are some of the most commonly used methods of contraception since 1982.
5. The pill method is most commonly used by women in their teens, 20’s, never- married or college graduates.

6. According to the Office for National Statistics survey, married or co-habiting women used 84% more likely to use contraceptives, compared to women who were single, divorced or widowed.
7. The use of injectable contraceptive drugs containing medroxyprogesterone acetate has been increased from 4.5% in 1995 to 23% in 2006–2010.
8. In 2012, Long Acting Reversible Contraceptive methods (LARC) such as IUDs and implants were relied upon by 12% percent of women.
9. Around 5.7 million women have come to depend on the male condom. Use of this particular contraceptive has increased from 52% in 1982 to 93% when measured in 2006-2010.
10. Combination of two contraceptives can offer dual protection against both pregnancies and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). These methods are often combined with another method such as condom with the oral contraceptive pill. Around 8% of women use this method
11. Withdrawal which is a natural contraceptive method has seen an increase from 25% in 1982 to 60% in 2006-2010.
12. Vasectomy method has seen an increase in use from seven percentage to 16% percent of men within the age group of 36-45.
13. Contraceptive methods such as IUDs and implants are considered to be the most effective as they have a failure rate of less than 1%.
14. In India, it is estimated that if the current unmet need for family planning is completed in the next five years, 35,000 maternal deaths and 1.2 million infant death could be prevented.
15. In India, ASHA, a governmental initiative has launched a scheme to deliver contraceptive to the doorstep. This scheme was launched in 233 pilot districts of 17 states for the first time on 11^th July 2011 and was later expanded to cover the entire country from 17th December 2012.

References:

1. Family planning / Contraception - (http://www.portal.pmnch.org/mediacentre/factsheets/fs351/en/)
2. Contraceptive Use in the United States - (https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/contraceptive-use-united-states)
3. UK Comparative Contraceptive Choices - (https://www.populationmatters.org/documents/contraceptive_choices.pdf)
4. Family Planning - (https://mohfw.gov.in/sites/default/files/56324455632156323214.pdf)