It is 2020, and yet a staggering 220 million women are unable to meet their contraceptive needs. This clearly shows the disconnect between a woman’s wish to plan her pregnancies and her ability to do so.
Week 34 of the #MakeOverMonday challenge talks about the contraceptive methods available to women. In low and lower middle income countries (LMIC), almost 50% of the pregnancies are unintended and almost 127 million women who give birth do not receive necessary care.
As seen from the report above, almost 36% of the women who want to avoid pregnancy, are unable to find their contraceptive needs. Eastern Asia has the lowest average percentage, with only 4.79% of women having unmet needs in China. The African continent on the other hand shows a huge variance. While the northern and the southern parts of the continent has lower rates, the other regions have a very high level of unmet needs.
The unmet need for contraception is very high for adolescents – 43% of them aged between 15 and 19 years. Providing appropriate access to contraception methods for all women will prevent maternal deaths. Women in various parts of the LMIC countries should also be made aware of the various contraceptive methods available.