CURRENT TRENDS AND PRACTICE OF CONTRACEPTION: INDIA PERSPECTIVE

Objective: In this review, the authors aim to highlight the trends in use of various methods of contraception with focus on the Indian perspective. The current population of India is 1.38 billion and rapidly growing. This has led to a number of deleterious effects in terms of economic and environmental challenges. The population growth can be curbed by promoting use of contracep-tives. Materials and methods: This is a review on the current trends in use of various methods of contraception with focus on the Indian perspective which was gathered through a question-naire-based survey. The survey was conducted by Pfizer and FOGSI to understand the patterns of contraception usage in India and identify drivers to augment recommendation. Results: In India, the use of contraceptives is between 51.7% to 57.2% among married women. The Government of India has launched various programmes to bridge the unmet need of contraceptives and ultimately achieve population stabilization. The choice of contraceptive depends on factors like religious and social influences. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to gain a better understanding of the actual preferences of obstetricians and gyne-cologists in India while prescribing contraceptives. The results of the survey indicated that doctor driven barriers outweigh the patient driven barriers for oral contraceptive products recommenda-tion. The challenges faced by the doctors include patients fearing to try other contraceptive methods, preference of a particular method of contraception and poor compliance. Conclusion: There is an evident unmet need regarding contraception use in the country in terms of lack of awareness and improper or no counselling. Educational programmes for women as well as healthcare providers will open the dialogue for contraception use and family planning. The way ahead for effective population stabilization is promoting family planning rigorously in rural parts of the country and in the younger reproductive population. Keywords: Contraception; Population control; Post-partum; Injectable contraceptive