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Urban-rural differences in coverage and utilization of family planning services in India during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020

Arupendra Mozumdar, Population Council
Abhishek Kumar, Population Council
Sana Ashraf, Population Council
Anshul Kastor, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Ashita Munjral, Reproductive Health Program
Ankita Shukla, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Subrato Kumar Mondal, Usaid India
Niranjan Saggurti, Population Council
Rajib Acharya, Population Council

This study investigates the urban-rural difference in utilization and program coverage of family planning services in India, during the lockdown of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Performance statistics data from health management information system and data from a population-based telephonic survey in eight Indian states were used in this analysis. In India, both urban and rural areas experienced a decrease in uptake of family planning services during April-June 2020 compared to the same months of the previous year (i.e. 2019) and the previous three months of the same years (i.e. January–March 2020). Urban areas consistently showed a greater decrease in uptake than rural areas during the lockdown of 2020. Population-based data showed lower program coverage during the lockdown in most of the states. Although the use of the reversible method showed an increase from March 2020, the women faced challenges to procure the short-term methods during the lockdown. Programmatic attention is required, especially in urban areas to improve the utilization of family planning services in India during future public health emergencies.

Keywords: COVID-19, Family planning and contraception

See extended abstract.

  Presented in Session P21.