Project

Abuse of Oral Contraceptives

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, has declared Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham as a Center of Excellence in Tribal Empowerment  (Tribal CoE). This multidisciplinary center has faculty expertise from various Amrita departments.

The Use and Abuse of Oral Contraceptives is a current collaborative effort between Amrita Center for Research in Analytics, Technologies & Education (AmritaCREATE) and Amrita Department of Community Medicine.

Kerala has achieved replacement level fertility (i.e. the level of fertility at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next); however, the last census (2011) has recorded a 1% increase in the percentage of indigenous population in Kerala. The tribal population, known as the Scheduled Tribes (ST), comprises the various aboriginal ethnic minorities concentrated in hilly lands. Tribal societies, in general, are considered more egalitarian, women have more labor participation and mortality is slower than in non-tribal populations. The tribal societies also have a low use of contraceptives and therefore higher fertility than the general population. Studies on contraceptive use among the tribal groups in Kerala are few.

Therefore, it is considered important to study the fertility and contraceptive use in Kerala. It is important to understand current use of contraceptives in general and oral contraceptives in particular and to look at the non-fertility uses of oral contraceptives.

This project studies the family sizes, fertility patterns, and contraceptive use among the tribal population inhabiting the Wayanad district of Kerala. The use of oral contraceptives is reported to be extensive.  Also, the abuse of oral contraceptives is reported to be extensive, as girls do not like to go to menstrual homes, where they are mandatorily isolated during their menstrual period, a practice previously common in tribal areas.

Objectives:

• To understand knowledge of and the attitude towards oral contraceptive use among the women of reproductive age in the various tribal groups.
• To understand the prevalence, pattern and determinants of contraceptive use among the women of reproductive age in the various tribal groups
• To explore the fertility intentions among the oral contraceptive users

Geographical area

Two selected community development blocks of Wayanad district, namely Kalpetta and Mananthavady.

Target group

The program targets tribal women and adolescent girls of menstrual age between 15 and 49 years of age.

Major activities included in this study

• Developing the capacity of local volunteers in conducting qualitative research
• Organizing educational workshop regarding proper use of contraceptives for tribals