KINGSTON, Jamaica — A whopping 98.0 per cent of the 76,469 clients served by family planning clinics across Jamaica in 2024 were female.

A comparative assessment by parish showed that Kingston and St Andrew continued to register the highest proportion (19.8 per cent) of visits, followed by St Catherine (16.2 per cent) and Clarendon (9.3 per cent).

The information is contained in the 2024 edition of the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica, an annual publication of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ).

The PIOJ notes that the responsibilities of the National Family Planning Board (NFPB), which is the focal point for sexual and reproductive health services in Jamaica, were integrated into the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) in August, 2024. It said efforts to achieve the target of a Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) of 75.0 per cent by 2030 were continued by the MOHW.

“Contraceptives distributed by the NFPB to public health facilities totalled 967 58712 for the provisional period in 2024,” the survey found.

It also found that “the male condom accounted for 92.9 per cent of total contraceptives distributed, followed by injectables (5.1 per cent), oral contraceptive pills (1.8 per cent), and intrauterine devices (IUD) and implants (0.1 per cent, respectively)”.

For the period January to July, 2024 there were 24 343 family planning users. A total of 9 315 females were new acceptors of modern contraceptive methods. The number of new acceptors represented 38.3 per cent of total contraceptive users. The injection was the most popular contraceptive used among new acceptors (46.0 per cent), followed by condoms (39.5 per cent). Implants and IUD maintained the lowest use at 2.4 per cent.

Additionally, 46.5 per cent of new acceptors reported dual method use (DMU), that is, utilising a barrier method with any other method of contraception to protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and reduce unintended/unplanned pregnancies. A total of 520 tubal ligations were recorded over the provisional period.