New Delhi, Jan 23: Contraceptive pills are preferred to condoms to avoid pregnancy in three Northeastern states and West Bengal, according to a survey by Health Ministry.
Data of the fourth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), conducted by the ministry, on current use of family planning methods shows a marked increase in the percentage of pill consumption over usage of condoms in the age group of 15-49 years in Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura and West Bengal, which were among the 13 states covered by the survey.
In Tripura, pill consumption was at 26.3 per cent with 21.1 per cent in urban areas and 28.5 per cent in rural areas, against 1.9 per cent usage of condoms (urban – 3.4 per cent, rural – 1.2 per cent).
As compared to NFHS-3 (2005-2006) data, pill consumption in the Northeastern state has increased from 21.8 per cent to 26.3 per cent in 2015-2016, and usage of condoms has dropped from 3.2 per cent to 1.9 per cent.
West Bengal reported an average consumption of contraceptive pills at 20.0 per cent as against 11.7 per cent usage of condoms. The data also recorded an increase in usage of pills from 11.7 per cent (NFHS-3 2005-2006) to 20.0 per cent in 2015-16.
Consumption of pills was found to be at an average of 11.7 per cent (urban – 7.8 per cent, rural 12.5 per cent) as against 1.3 per cent condom usage in Meghalaya.
In Sikkim, the average consumption of pills was 11.6 per cent (urban – 16.9 per cent, rural – 21.4 per cent), while condom usage was reported to be at 5.9 per cent.
