NEW DELHI: Even as the information and broadcasting ministry has restricted airing of condom advertisements on television between 6am and 10pm, TV remains the biggest medium for people to get the family planning message, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).

About 59 per cent of women and 61 per cent of men get exposure to family planning messages through TV. According to the survey, knowledge of contraceptive methods is almost universal with 99 per cent of currently married women and men aged 15-49 knowing at least one method of contraception.

Recently, the ministry in an advisory issued to all TV channels, had stated that “some channels carry ads of condoms repeatedly which are alleged to be indecent, especially for children". The advisory demanded “strict adherence to the provisions" and warned that "any failure to comply will attract action”. It later clarified that the ban on daytime ads was only for those with explicit sexual content.

What the NFHS shows is that TV is the most popular medium across gender, educational backgrounds, religions and income groups for receiving family planning communication.

Older women, women in rural areas, women with little or no schooling, Muslim women, scheduled tribe women, and women in the two lowest wealth quintiles have less exposure to family planning messages,but even here TV is the most popular medium for such communication. Exposure to family planning messages is slightly higher for men (76%) than women (72%).

The survey also shows that 3 in 8 men believe that contraception is women’s business and that men should not have to worry about it. About a fifth of men believe that a woman who uses contraception may become promiscuous.

About 42 per cent of currently married women and 48 per cent of currently married men know about emergency contraception. Overall, the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) is 54 per cent of currently married women aged 15-49. Almost half (48%) of such women use modern methods.

Only 15 per cent of currently married women aged 15-19 use a contraceptive method and 10 per cent use a modern contraceptive method. Among sexually active, unmarried women aged 15-49, about one-third (34%) use a contraceptive method and almost all of them (32%) use modern methods.

Modern contraceptive methods include male and female sterilization, injectables, intrauterine devices (IUDs/PPIUDs), contraceptive pills, implants, female and male condoms, diaphragm, foam/jelly, the standard days method, the lactational amenorrhoea method, and emergency contraception.

