Marked Increase In Usage Of Condoms In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The Health Department has released a report stating that condom usage in the state has increased by 2.66 percent over the previous year. Data from the report, released on World Population Day shows that people prefer condoms over other birth control techniques such as sterilisation and contraceptive pills.

The number of condom users increased from 1,23,746 in 2016-17 to 1,27,035 in 2017-18. As expected, the sale and supply of condoms has also increased in the state.

According to data released by the Health Department, the number of women opting for surgical sterilisation procedure reduced from 1,05,066 in 2016-17 to 86636 in 2017-18, a 17.54% drop. Sterilisation among men also remained the least desired method and it saw a 56.43% drop in a year and only 1148 takers in 2017-18. Overall, sterilisation for both the genders fell by 18.49%.

There is also a decline in the use of contraceptive pills in the state. The number of women using pills fell from 1,58,287 in 2016-17 to 1,50,653 during 2017-18.

The Ministry of Health has also run an awareness campaign on social media on the occasion.

Despite the increase in usage, condom use in India is still unpopular compared to China and European nations according to statistics released by the government in November last year. The overall usage had fallen by 52% in eight years and the number of people using it is just 6% in the country. The number is as high as 30% in European nations.