BHUBANESWAR: In the evolving family planning landscape of Odisha, use of condom has recorded a steady decline, while preference for weekly pill has spiked to a significant extent in the last six years between 2018-19 and 2023-24, revealed the Odisha Economic Survey 2024-25.
Citing the statistics of the Health and Family Welfare department, the survey report stated that condom usage has declined gradually by 8.3 per cent points in the last six years. From 24.4 per cent in 2018-19, the use of condom plummeted to 16.1 per cent in 2023-24.
Among all the contraceptive methods, the report revealed that Centchroman, a weekly tablet, has emerged as the most popular and preferred choice for family planning, followed by injectables. As of 2023-24, the statistics showed that around 24.4 per cent women used Centchroman compared to only 0.3 per cent in 2018-19.
Though Intrauterine Contraceptive Devices (IUCDs) like Copper-T stood second in preference among the population, the report suggested that its use has recorded a sharp decline in the last six years with only 17.9 per cent using it in 2023-24 compared to 31.8 per cent in 2018-19.
The use of oral contraceptive pills (OCP) also declined from 26.7 per cent in 2018-19 to 16.6 per cent in 2023-24. In contrast, use of injectable contraceptive such as Antara increased to 16.2 per cent in 2023-24 compared to only 0.9 per cent in 2018-19.
The survey report underlined that there has been a decline in both female and male sterilisation rate in the last six years. From 15.6 per cent in 2018-19, the female sterilsation rate in the state plunged to about 8.6 per cent in 2023-24. Similarly, the male sterilisation rate also dropped from 0.3 per cent to 0.2 per cent during the period.
While the decrease in female sterilisation points towards a preference for reversible methods, the low rate of male sterilisation is an indication of gender dynamics in contraceptive responsibility, the Economic Survey report stated. It stated that decline in the use of IUCDs and OCPs also suggest potential barriers in access or shifts towards other methods.
“Condom usage also declined, potentially due to changes in public health messaging, while the spike in use of injectables and Centchroman indicates successful promotion of these methods due to their convenience and non-hormonal nature, respectively,” it pointed out.
The report underlined that the trends emphasise the need for enhanced cultural and educational interventions to promote shared responsibility in family planning, consistent policy and accessibility to ensure informed contraceptive choices.
Officials in the state family welfare directorate, however, stated there may not be a decline in use of condoms as a contraceptive method as it is still popular and widely available in the market. Besides, the health statistics include condom distribution only at government healthcare facilities, they said.
On IUCD and OCP, the health officials said availability of better options in the form of injectable and weekly pills might have caused the shift in preference. They underlined that in view of evolving contraceptive methods as well as rising cases of divorce, sterilisation has no longer been a popular choice among the population, especially females.
“However, in view of the wide gap that exists in female and male sterilisation rate, we have started including males in the ‘saas-bahu’ summits organised at grassroots for shared responsibility and successful accomplishment of family planning goals,” a senior officer from the state family welfare directorate said.