Assessment of Availability of Contraceptive Commodities in Osun State, Nigeria

Background: Family planning (FP) is an important aspect of socio-economic development for which access to contraceptive commodities (CCs) by users is critical. Unfortunately, availability of CCs is usually compromised in most developing countries.

Aims: The aim of the study was to assess availability of contraceptive commodities in Osun State, Nigeria.

Study Design: A cross-sectional survey.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at the FP unit of the State Ministry of Health (State central warehouse) and at Service Delivery Points (SDPs) for CCs in Osun State from April, 2015 to November, 2015.

Methods: Ethical clearance was obtained for the study. The study sample consisted of all 15 Service Providers (SPs) at the State central warehouse (SCW) and 336 SPs at the SDPs selected by multistage sampling technique. The study employed primary sources of data obtained with the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire; personal interview; physical observation of storage and transportation facilities; and review of contraceptives inventory records. The 19-item questionnaire was adapted from previously standardized instrument and validated giving a test-retest reliability coefficient of 0.79 and Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.80 for internal consistency. The items were made of statements with dichotomous ‘yes/no’ responses to elicit information on availability. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages including average percentage of unexpired availability (APOUA) of CCs and average percentage of stock-out time (APOSOT) of CCs while chi-square inferential statistics was employed to determine significant relationship between variables.

Results: The responses of SPs show that there was full supply of CCs at SCW (APOUA=100%; APOSOT=0%) but non-full supply at SDPs (APOUA=74.94%; APOSOT=14.28%). While all inventory CCs were available at the SCW at all time for the period under review, only 25% of SDPs had all inventory CCs available all the time. Identified factors responsible for non-full supply of CCs at SDPs include a pull system of inventory control accompanied by transportation inadequacy and logistics officers that appeared to possess low capacity and low motivation.

Conclusion: The study concluded that availability of CCs was optimal at State (regional) central warehouse but sub-optimal at SDPs. The sub-optimal availability of CCs at SDPs portends grave implications for attainment of contraceptive security and expectedly population control among the studied population. This calls for urgent government action in addressing identified issues.