In a recent paper led by ICEH’s researchers with collaboration with other international researchers, the mix of contraceptive methods available in India was studied.

The main outcome analyzed was the demand for family planning satisfied with modern methods (DFPSmo). Although the national coverage of DFPSmo was quite high, reaching 72% of women of reproductive age (15-49 years old), 76% of those had their demand satisfied through sterilization methods. Even more alarming is that 65% of all women that underwent sterilization had received money incentives to do so, and that the share of sterilization is over 80% in the poorest quintile compared to 66% in the wealthiest quintile.

The contribution of the mix of methods according to women’s age was also analyzed, where it was shown that there was an almost linear substitution of short acting reversible contraception to sterilization as women got older. Almost 50% of all women had their demand for family planning satisfied by sterilization when they reached 25 years of age. Clearly, opting for sterilization is not solely women’s choice, but it is something encourage by public policies. Thus, India should prioritize women-centered care, making reversible contraceptive methods widely available and promoted.

The complete paper is published in the BMC Reproductive Health and is available open access here: Reproductive Health