World Contraception Day: Improving Awareness of Contraception Enables Young People to Make Informed Decisions Regarding Their Reproductive Health
World Contraception Day takes place on September 26th every year!
The day’s mission is to improve awareness of all contraceptive methods available and enable young people to make informed choices on their sexual and reproductive health.
There are 3.5 billion people under the age of 30 in the world today- the largest generation of young people ever. They must have access to sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, and the knowledge and skills necessary to make healthy, informed decisions about their lives.
Yet, young people face especially serious barriers to accessing life-saving contraceptives and family planning services, including insufficient knowledge about modern methods and healthcare providers who discourage use of contraception among unmarried people.
UNFPA and partners advocate with governments and other stakeholders to ensure that young people have the information and services they need.
World Contraception Day (WCD) was launched on 26 September 2007. WCD is a global campaign dedicated to improving awareness of contraception to enable young people to make informed decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health.
In the spirit of the day, here are 10 facts about contraception across the globe:
- 211 million pregnancies are estimated to occur every year and currently more than 40% are unwanted pregnancies.
- Of the 40% unwanted pregnancies, about 50% end with an abortion, often in unsafe conditions that threaten the woman’s health and life.
- About 16 million adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 give birth every year, and one million are under 15. They are much more at risk of incurring fatal complications while giving birth than women over the age of 19.
- Young people are more likely to receive sexually transmitted infections than adults. Adolescent girls are disproportionally affected by HIV and account for three in four new infections in sub-Sharan Africa.
- Of the estimated 38 million sexually active adolescents living in developing countries, 60% are, for varying reasons, not using any contraceptive method. Married adolescent girls face the highest level of unmet need for contraceptive use.
Access to contraceptives is even harder for adolescent girls and young women living in emergency settings, with more than 500 women and girls dying each day due to pregnancy and childbirth complications.
There are now at least 17 contraceptive methods you can choose from. Female sterilisation is the most common method worldwide, followed by the intrauterine device (IUD).
According to the Encyclopaedia of Birth Control, the first condoms appeared in 3000 B.C. They were made from animal intestines and fish bladders!
There is no better time to celebrate the importance of family planning in the lives of people around the world. In recent decades, there have been significant advancements in access and technology that have expanded individuals’ ability to make decisions about their own sexual and reproductive health. It is critical that advocates, policymakers, and other stakeholders work to maintain these hard-fought gains and drive new ones.
One proven way to do this is to invest in research and development (R&D) of sexual and reproductive health interventions, including in particular for innovative technologies that simultaneously offer pregnancy, HIV and other STI prevention. Such R&D support would impact the lives of millions of people here and abroad. Key areas that could and should be improved through R&D are:
Contraception to prevent unintended pregnancy: The vast majority of unintended pregnancies, both in the United States and abroad, are among people who are either not using any contraception or are using it inconsistently (see figure).
Ninety-one percent of women in the United States feel that no one contraceptive method has all of the features that are important to them–with many citing side effects and impacts on sexual pleasure as reasons for their dissatisfaction. In low-income countries, women who want to prevent pregnancy also point to worries about side effects along with other health risks among their reasons for not using contraception.
Developing new contraceptive methods and modifying existing ones could address these issues, thereby helping women and their partners feel more satisfied with their contraceptive choices and better equipped to prevent or space pregnancies.
HIV and other STI prevention: Unintended pregnancy is not the only risk facing women both domestically and abroad; better and more options are needed to sustain progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS, as well as other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). One pathway to HIV prevention is to improve uptake and adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) by exploring novel drug combinations and delivery methods.
Researchers are investigating the safety and efficacy of a wide variety of long-acting methods, factors that affect adherence to oral PrEP, and the impact that taking the drug may have on patients’ lives. For example, a new vaginal ring that releases an antiretroviral drug over the course of a month has been shown in clinical trials to safely and significantly reduce women’s risk of HIV.
There are also a number of other drug combinations and delivery platforms in development that target several STIs at once. Having more, and better, prevention options can only improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes for women around the globe.
The need for innovation is urgent. There are 214 million women of reproductive age around the world who want to avoid a pregnancy and are not using a modern contraceptive method. Globally, unintended pregnancies contribute to poor maternal and child health and can carry steep social and economic costs for women in their families. In the United States, just under half of all pregnancies—some 2.8 million—are unintended.
HIV/AIDS also plays a significant role in the lives of women and girls around the world. There are 19.6 million women and girls living with HIV, including 240,000 in the United States. This group accounts for one in five new HIV infections in the United States, with notable disparities by race, ethnicity, and age.
It is estimated that more than a million cases of STIs are acquired every day around the world, and the prevalence of chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and syphilis have been increasing rapidly in recent years. STIs can lead to cervical cancer, infertility, poor pregnancy and birth outcomes, and increased risk of acquiring new or transmitting existing STIs, including HIV. Given the prevalence and risks of STIs, effective and varied prevention strategies are crucial.
Multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs) are products that simultaneously offer pregnancy, HIV and other STI prevention. Right now, women’s only options for simultaneous protection against unintended pregnancy, HIV, and other STIs are external and internal condoms, which depend on the cooperation of a male partner. These two options are likely not meeting all women’s needs or preferences. R&D supports the development of multiple types of MPTs that, together, could better address individuals’ needs and preferences.
Although there has been significant progress in the development of new prevention methods in recent years, continued support for R&D is critical.
National governments have an important role to play in developing innovative and complex technologies, as the profit potential of these drugs is uncertain and few pharmaceutical companies are developing them.
Going forward, it is critical that the United States and other governments continue to support R&D in sexual and reproductive health in order to ensure continued progress advancing the health and rights of women everywhere.
