Use of family planning methods down in Ludhiana district: Survey

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 18

The use of family planning methods has come down in the district during the past five years, a national survey has revealed.

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), conducted by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare through the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), a copy of which is with The Tribune, showed that the current use of any family planning method by married women in 15 to 49 age group has dipped from 72.8 per cent in 2015-16 to 69.8 per cent in 2020-21. The trend was in line with the state average, which also came down from 75.8 per cent in 2015-16 to 66.6 per cent in 2020-21, which included 68.4 per cent in urban areas and 65.4 per cent in rural areas.

The various family planning methods currently used by the married women in the district included 50.5 per cent modern methods, 1.8 per cent IUD/ PPIUD, 0.5 per cent pill and 26.6 per cent condom. This has come down from 61.7 per cent use of modern methods, 7.2 per cent IUD/ PPIUD and 1.8 per cent pill in 2015-16. However, condom use went up from 18 per cent in 2015-16 to 26.6 per cent in 2020-21.

The study, which also reports estimates of indicators of sexual behaviour, HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitude and behaviour, showed that the female sterilisation in the district dipped from 34.2 per cent in 2015-16 to 21.2 per cent in 2020-21, which was in line with the state trend coming down from 37.5 per cent in 2015-16 to 22.8 per cent in 2020-21, which included 25.6 per cent in rural areas and 18 per cent in urban areas. Similarly, the male sterilisation in Ludhiana halved from 0.6 per cent in 2015-16 to 0.3 per cent in 2020-21. This was, however, less than the state average, which came down from 0.6 per cent in 2015-16 to 0.5 per cent in 2020-21, which included 0.5 per cent in urban areas and 0.4 per cent in rural areas.

The NFHS-5, the data from which will help in identifying the need for new programmes with an area-specific focus and identifying groups that are most in need of essential services, found that unmet need for family planning by married women in the district went up from 5 per cent in 2015-16 to 8.3 per cent in 2020-21. This was again less than the state average that went up from 6.2 per cent in 2015-16 to 9.9 per cent in 2020-21, which included 10.5 per cent in rural areas and 8.8 per cent in urban areas.

Similarly, the unmet need for spacing in the district almost doubled from 2.1 per cent in 2015-16 to 3.8 per cent in 2020-21. This was up from the state average, which increased from 2.4 per cent in 2015-16 to 3.7 per cent in 2015-16, which included 3.9 per cent in rural areas and 3.3 per cent in urban areas.

The fifth edition of the survey, which gathered information from 799 households, 817 women and 134 men in the district, also reported that the average of health workers ever talking to women non-users about family planning went up from 18.7 per cent in 2015-16 to 25.1 per cent in 2020-21. This was less than the state average that came down from 29.4 per cent in 2015-16 to 21.7 per cent in 2020-21, including 22.2 per cent in urban areas and 21.3 per cent in rural areas.

Similarly, the percentage of current users ever told about side effects of the current family planning methods in the district went up from 60.9 in 2015-16 to 88.9 in 2020-21. This was more than the state average that came down from 79.2 per cent in 2015-16 to 78.2 per cent in 2020-21, which included 78.9 per cent in urban areas and 77.9 per cent in rural areas.

Survey findings

• Use of any family planning method: 69.8%
• Female sterilisation: 21.2%
• Male sterilisation: 0.3%
• Condom: 26.6%
• Pill: 0.5%