Knowledge of family planning choices is an important part of the healthcare information that women need to protect their own health and the health of others. (It is also incongruously the only aspect of healthcare information that is recognised in the sustainable development goals.)
Below are the citation and key messages from a new paper in Health Policy and Planning.
CITATION: Do Indian women know about and use the emergency contraceptive pill? An analysis of nationally representative data from 2005–06 and 2019–21
Renu, Pooja Arora, Kerry Scott, Dina Balabanova
Health Policy and Planning, Volume 38, Issue Supplement_2, November 2023, Pages ii51–ii61, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czad049
KEY MESSAGES
- In 2019–21, more than half of Indian women were not aware of emergency contraceptive pills (ECP), and less than 1% had ever used an ECP, although this percentage has increased dramatically since 2005–06.
- ECP use is higher among younger and unmarried women, but awareness is lower compared to middle-aged and married women.
- Increasing awareness about the ECP, particularly among adolescents, those with less education, poorer women and those in rural areas, could reduce unintended pregnancy and expand women’s options for reproductive control.
- Measures to improve awareness and appropriate use of ECP could involve government frontline health workers, such as ASHA community health workers, but after providing them with more training and support to lead this effort.
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil AT hifa.org
