Are people really using modern contraceptives and how much do they pay for them?

Abstract

Objectives: There is an urgent need to achieve universal access to contraceptives in Nigeria. The paper presents new information about  the level of use and expenditures on modern contraceptives in Nigeria. It also presents socio-economic and geographic differences in the  use and expenditures on contraceptives.

Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative study was undertaken in six states of the country. In each state, an urban and a rural area were  selected for the study. Hence, there were a total of six urban and six rural sites from the six states. The number of respondents that were  interviewed was 770 per state. A pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect information from females in the  randomly selected households. Data was on the current level of utilization and payments for different contraceptives of respondents  were collected. Data was also collected on the demographic structure and the socioeconomic characteristics of the population. The data  was examined for links between socio-economic status (SES) and geographic location with the key variables.

Findings: A minority of the respondents (23.2%) stated that they had ever used any modern contraceptive method. Male condoms  followed by oral contraceptive pills and injectables were the contraceptives that were mostly used by the respondents. Only 25.2% of the  respondents had paid for any contraceptive within six months to the date of the interview. Male condoms followed by oral contraceptive  pills were the most common contraceptives that people paid for. The highest average amount of expenditure on contraceptives was  made for a unit of injectables. For only those that incurred expenditures, per unit monthly expenditures for the different contraceptives  were US$ 0.79 for male condom; US$2.65 for female condom; US$1.29 for oral contraceptive pills; US$3.68 for injectables; US$13.51 for  implants; and US$7.85 for IUD.

Conclusion: There was low level of use of most modern contraceptives. However, people are spending a lot of money on contraceptives  through mostly out-of-pocket expenditure. The poorest SES groups and rural dwellers were mostly adversely affected by expenditures on  the contraceptives. Decision makers should find ways to reduce cost so as to increase affordability and develop payment  mechanisms  that will help to decrease the financial burden on the consumers and increase access to and utilisation of the modern  contraceptives.