Access to Contraception: Worldwide and in Canada

Written by: Alyssa Comfort

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that in order to preserve human rights and health, contraceptive information and services must be accessible and available (1).

As of 2019, there were 270 million women around the world with unmet birth control needs (1). In certain areas, such as Middle and Western Africa, only half the need for contraception is being met (1,2). Barriers include:

• “limited choice of methods
• limited access to services, particularly among young, poorer and unmarried people
• fear or experience of side-effects
• cultural or religious opposition
• poor quality of available services
• users’ and providers’ bias against some methods
• gender-based barriers to accessing services” (1)

Providing universal access to family planning can promote the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being, and Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls (2).

Photo by Michelle Ding on Unsplash

What can you do?

You can help by raising awareness of this issue and sharing information with others. Community fundraising events can be a great way to raise money for one of the many NGOs working to increase access to contraceptions that take donations. In Canada, an organization called Action Canada advocates for sexual and reproductive rights both in Canada and around the world. You can get more information on their website about current campaigns and resources on the topic. Furthermore, many well-known international organizations, for example, the United Nations Population Fund and Plan Canada, operate globally to increase access to contraceptives and family planning services.

Canada

In Canada, cost is the biggest barrier to contraception in Canada and disproportionately affects youth, young adults, new immigrants, and those living in rural, northern, and/or Indigenous communities (3). From a public health perspective, the most recent estimated annual cost of unintended pregnancies in Canada is ~320 million per year (4).

Although teenage pregnancy rates in Canada decreased from 5.3% of live births in 2000 to 1.7% in 2019, the majority of these pregnancies are unplanned (5). The Canadian Pediatric Association recommends that confidential, no-cost access to contraceptives be covered by government health plans for youth under 25 (6).

Photo by Manny Becerra on Unsplash

What can you do?

In the upcoming federal election this September, the NDP platform includes free access to birth control and contraceptives to all Canadians (7). If you aren’t planning to vote for NDP, you can contact your local party candidate to advocate for free access to contraceptives. Use this link to find your candidate or MP by postal code: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/search.

Make sure you vote in the election if you can! It’s important and fairly straightforward. Here are instructions on how to vote in the September 2021 Federal Election: https://www.elections.ca/home.aspx

References

1. WHO. Family planning/contraception methods [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2021 Aug 25]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/family-planning-contraception
2. United Nations. Family Planning and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Data Booklet) [Internet]. United Nations; 2019 [cited 2021 Aug 25]. Available from: https://www.un-ilibrary.org/content/books/9789210045124
3. Hulme J, Dunn S, Guilbert E, Soon J, Norman W. Barriers and facilitators to family planning access in Canada. Healthc Policy. 2015 Feb;10(3):48–63.
4. Black AY, Guilbert E, Hassan F, Chatziheofilou I, Lowin J, Jeddi M, et al. The Cost of Unintended Pregnancies in Canada: Estimating Direct Cost, Role of Imperfect Adherence, and the Potential Impact of Increased Use of Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada. 2015 Dec;37(12):1086–97.
5. Rosenthal MA, McQuillan SK. Adolescent contraception. CMAJ. 2021 Aug 9;193(31):E1218–E1218.
6. Di Meglio G, Yorke E. Universal access to no-cost contraception for youth in Canada. Paediatrics & Child Health. 2019 May 15;24(3):160–4.
7. New Democratic Party of Canada. Ready for Better: NDP 2021 Commitments. 2021.