Govt introduces two new contraceptives

Team Udayavani, Sep 5, 2017, 5:00 PM IST

New Delhi :  Government has launched two new free contraceptives, an injectable drug and a pill, expanding the basket of choices for the country’s population to meet their family planning needs. The contraceptives, which are available for free in medical colleges and district hospitals at present, have so far been launched in ten states — Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Haryana, West Bengal, Odisha, Delhi and Goa.

“The contraceptives are safe and highly effective, the Antara injectable being effective for three months and the Chayya pill for one week, and will help meet the changing needs of couples and help women plan and space their pregnancies,” said an official statement. The contraceptives are being launched under the government’s Mission ParivarVikas, a central family planning initiative.

The mission is being implemented in 146 high focus districts that house 44 per cent of the country’s population, with the highest total fertility rates in the country. These districts are in the seven states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Assam. The main objective of the Mission ParivarVikas family planning initiative is to bring down the Total Fertility Rate to 2.1 by the year 2025, the statement said.

Training of healthcare practitioners from all the states has been completed as well, with a pool of state and district level doctors and staff nurses being trained to support the roll-out. To help improve the supply and distribution of contraceptives, the Health Ministry had recently launched a new software, Family Planning Logistics Management Information System (FP-LMIS), designed to provide robust information on the demand and distribution of contraceptives to health facilities and ASHAs (community health workers).