GOA: Even as female sterilisation continues to be the most common contraceptive method used in India, it has failed to address the problem of population control . Almost four out of every five sterilised women had three or more children, shows a 2016 survey, signifying that around 80% of the women mainly in high burden states had already achieved their desired fertility when going for sterilisation.The findings of the married women in reproductive age survey by International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) also highlighted the average age of sterilisation in high burden states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is 27 years, indicating that most women had achieved their desired fertility even before reaching half of their reproductive lifespan.The findings were discussed during an ongoing Difficult Dialogues Summit in Goa. Based on the deliberations made by politicians, policy makers, academicians and health experts during the three-day summit, the forum will submit a list of recommendations to PM Narendra Modi demanding policy interventions."These data indicate that there is imbalance between the information that women are receiving about reproductive choices and the fac tors that are influencing those choices," ICRW Asia vicepresident Ravi Verma told TOI. Verma said contraceptive users do not have adequate knowledge about the range of methods available for spacing and limiting but more importantly , they also do not have enough knowledge about the current method they're using. Experts also raised concerns about poor mix of contraceptive methods in India. India has the highest contraceptive prevalence rate for sterilisation at 36.9% as compared to other countries with similar demographics.The US trails with 36.3% rate, whereas China's sterilisation rate is at 33.2% and Brazil at 34.2%."Women are subject to huge discrimination when it comes to health services. Not only is the use of female steri lisation high but often their consent are also not taken for methods like Postpartum Intrauterine Contraceptive Device," said N B Sarojini, director of Sama Resource Group on Women and Health, an NGO that focuses on public health and regulation issues.Official data suggests female sterilisation accounts for 74.4% of modern contraceptive methods used in India. An additional 3.7% of the same is IUD. Male sterilisation is merely 2.3%, while use of condoms account for 11.4%. Use of pills constitute just 7.5% of modern methods, whereas injectables and implants are almost absent. Compare this with 32.1% of female sterilisation, 28.5% injectables, 15% of pills and 10.4% of condoms used as a share of modern contraceptive mix in Sri Lanka.

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