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The international community celebrates World Contraception Day on September 26 to recognize the right of all couples and individuals to freely and responsibly decide the number and spacing of their births. Its importance was affirmed at the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994, and is reflected in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development under target 3.7. “By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programs.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the day:

Story

World Contraception Day was first celebrated on September 26, 2007 by ten international family planning organizations to raise awareness of contraception and enable couples to make an informed decision about starting a family, so that every pregnancy is desired.

The ten organizations included the Asian Pacific Council on Contraception, the Centro Latinoamericano Salud y Mujer, the European Society for Contraception and Reproductive Health, the German Foundation for the World Population, the International Federation of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, the International Federation for family planning, Marie Stopes International, Population Services International, Population Council, USAID, Women Deliver.

It is now supported by a coalition of 15 international NGOs, government organizations and scientific and medical societies with the objective of disseminating good knowledge on sexual and reproductive health.

Theme

The theme for World Contraception Day is “Contraception: it’s your life, it’s your responsibility”.

Importance

In developing countries, an estimated 255 million women who wish to plan their pregnancy do not have access to modern contraceptive methods. This preventable risk increases maternal mortality, which is the leading cause of death among women of childbearing age. Two of the biggest threats to women’s sexual and reproductive health are unintended pregnancies and HIV. Women living in areas with high HIV rates do not have access to contraceptive methods. Awareness of modern contraceptive methods can help women and couples make wise choices that help improve the well-being of women and of society.

Human rights

Ahead of World Contraception Day, UN experts at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva issued the following statement on September 23:

“Access to family planning and contraception services, without coercion or hindrance, is a component of the right to health that is at the heart of women’s autonomy and action and the key to the realization of women’s rights. women to equality and non-discrimination, life, sex life and rights to reproductive health and other human rights.

States must respect and protect the key principles of non-discrimination, equality and privacy, as well as the bodily integrity, autonomy, dignity and well-being of individuals, in particular with regard to sexual and reproductive health rights.

Highlights

• Among the 1.9 billion women of reproductive age (15-49 years) worldwide in 2019, 1.1 billion are in need of family planning; of these, 842 million are using contraceptive methods and 270 million have an unmet need for contraception.
• The proportion of family planning needs met by modern methods, indicator 3.7.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was 75.7% globally in 2019, but less than half of family planning needs have been satisfied in Central and West Africa.
• Only one contraceptive method, the condom, can prevent both pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
• The use of contraception advances the human right to determine the number and spacing of their children.
• Contraceptive use is much lower in developing countries like Africa
• Globally, the number of women using contraception to increase by 778 million in 2030
• One in ten women has an unmet need for family planning
• About 45,000 Indian women die each year from pregnancy and related complications
• Less than half of married women in India use modern contraception
• Only 0.3 percent of men have undergone sterilization
• Only 5.6% of men use condoms

Why CMB 2021 is more important

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19[female[feminine pandemic in 2020, it negatively impacted the well-being of women in several ways, including contraception, family planning and gender-based violence. The consequences include millions of unwanted pregnancies, 1 500,000 more girls forced into marriage, and 31 million more cases of gender-based violence in the first six months of confinement.

These topics have therefore become more urgent as life’s circumstances have changed dramatically over the past year. In fact, the progress made in recent decades on these issues is in great danger of being undone. The pandemic exacerbates pre-existing inequalities and exposes vulnerabilities in the world’s social, political and economic systems.

India

In a country like India, CMB takes on even more importance as contraception is the key to population control, a problem that has plagued the nation for some time now. As better contraception leads to better family planning, which also helps many families lift themselves out of poverty.