Lagos beats Nairobi in use of emergency pills

The women of Lagos, Nigeria, use more morning-after-pills than their counterparts in Nairobi according to a survey, which interviewed 6,162 in the two cities.

The average woman using the Emergency Contraceptives (EC) in Lagos is older, married, better educated and having more sex than their Nairobi counterparts.

Nairobi women are most likely to identify their Nigerian counterparts through the popular Naija movies, now popular in the country but, for the first time, the research firm Ipsos and FHI 360 (formerly Family Health International) compare how the two on use EC.

The results of the survey appear in the current issue of the International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.

The investigation, which was approved by the Kenya Medical Research Institute, found that Nigerians are more open to the use of emergency pill compared to the Nairobi women.

More than a half of the Lagos respondents said it is okay for a woman to take EC as many times as she needs compared to less than a quarter of Nairobi women.

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But the study debunks the myth that the use of Plan B has reached an epidemic level in either city. The team led by Dawn Chin-Quee of FHI 360, says repeated use of emergency pills was not common among the women who were interviewed in both Nairobi and Lagos.

“When the data is considered in light of the World Health Organisation(WHO) parameters, only six respondents in Lagos and one in Nairobi, used the method more often than recommended,” says the study. WHO recommends that the EC be used no more than once per week or up to 24 times in six months.

The main reason why most women in Nairobi go for the morning after pill, the study says, is because they are not on a regular contraceptive method.

The survey also indicated that the Lagos man may be more stubborn than his counterpart in Nairobi when it comes to the use of condoms pushing the women to go after emergency pills.

“Partner refusal to use a condom was also reported and respondents in Lagos were more likely to cite this reason than their Nairobi counterparts at 21 per cent versus four per cent.”

The study, which captured the women at busy drug outlets and shopping malls in both cities showed wealthier women to be less willing to talk to interview teams compared to those in lower income groups.

To deter interviewing teams, the wealthy women are reported to have used body guards or retreated into locked vehicles and away into gated residences.

“Indeed, this was reported by the interview teams, though it is not clear why it was more pronounced in Nairobi than in Lagos,” wrote the team.

The study established several characteristics that were quiet distinct in the use of EC in the two cities. For example, users of EC in Nairobi were older than those in Lagos and the Nairobi women were most likely to be single. More than half of women in Lagos using EC were married.

“A higher proportion of users in Lagos had completed college education, while a greater proportion in Nairobi had no more than a primary school education.”

Users of emergency contraceptive pills in Lagos, says the study, had sex more often than did users in Nairobi: Sixty-six per cent versus 47 per cent, respectively, reported having intercourse at least once a week.