Total Number of Family Planning Acceptors in India increased by 3.5% between 2010 & 2011

As per the latest official data, the total number of family planning acceptors in India increased by 3.5 per cent between 2010 and 2011. The data revealed that condom is the most preferred method of family planning while sterilisations the least adopted means.
The comparative figures between April and September 2010 and 2011 put the number of couples adopting some method for family planning, including spacing methods was found to be close to 24 million, with at least 15 million preferring condoms to any other means.

Condom use was followed by oral pill user — though the number in this case came down to just over 5 million in 2011. IUD (intrauterine device) insertions by women was also another significant birth control measure adopted.

Use of Condoms

According to the figures available with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the highest jump of about 10 per cent (comparative figures) was recorded in the number of condom users while an equal quantum of decline was noted in oral pill users.
The quantum of condoms sold by the commercial companies increased by 32.7 per cent. The number of takers of free condoms increased in Rajsathan (though it was less compared to the previous year), Punjab and Haryana. Rajasthan has the largest number of oral pill users, followed by West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Vasectomy

Only about 2 million people underwent sterilisation during the period under review. Sterilisations remained more or less the same with a marginal decline of 1.2 per cent.

Of the total sterilisations conducted, vasectomy (male sterilisation) comprised only 4.2 per cent. Only Sikkim had 35 per cent men undergoing vasectomy while in the neighbouring Mizoram and Nagaland no vasectomy was done. In Arunachal Pradesh the number of vasectomy done stood at three.

IUD insertions

At the national level, the number of IUD insertions during April-September 2011 showed an increase of 5.1 per cent against the same period in 2010. Among the States showing increase in performance are Bihar, Assam, Orissa, West Bengal, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat while usage has gone down in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

State-wise Study

Bihar showed a jump of 92 per cent between 2010 and 2011 in sterilisations, 61 per cent in IUD users, 49 per cent in condom users and 71 per cent in oral pill users. Jharkhand on the other hand showed an overall decline in all methods used for family planning.

Karnataka too showed all-round decline as also Tamil Nadu, except sterilisations, which showed a 6 per cent increase.
Densely populated Uttar Pradesh indicated a 3.7 per cent increase in sterilisation figures, 12.7 per cent jump in IUD insertions, 17 and 18 per cent hike in condom use and oral pill use respectively.

In terms of sterilisations per 10000 unsterilised couples exposed to higher order of birth (3 and above), Tamil Nadu showed the best performance at 1834 sterilisations followed by Karnataka (1197), Kerala (1101), Maharashtra (857), Gujarat (510), Punjab (501), Haryana (4170) and Madhya Pradesh (342).

The achievement in all States is lower than the all India average of 315 sterilisations per 10000 unsterilised couples.