IN A DECADE OF SEXUAL LIBERALISM: EVIDENCE OF CONTRACEPTIVE ACCESSIBILITY AND UTILIZATION PREVALENCE AMONG FEMALE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA.

Makanju, A.O.*, Uriri, A.E. and Oniya, M.O.

The proliferation of cultural norms and standards in Nigeria, has led to drastic societal change and perceptions in the sphere of sexuality, these are most evident among adolescents and young adults who are at an exploratory stage in the continuum of physical and psychological changes associated with dynamic social interactions, relationships and risks. This study assessed the contemporary sexual behaviour, contraceptive accessibility and prevalence among undergraduate students in South-Western, Nigeria. A cross sectional descriptive study design was carried out among 600 Female undergraduate students from two tertiary institutions in the Southwest geo-political zone. Respondents were selected using multi-stage random sampling technique and information was collected using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. The mean age of the participants studied was 21.4 years, 505 (84.2%) of them had experienced sexual intercourse prior to the study, out of which 464 (91.1%) were currently sexually active, median debut age at first sexual intercourse was 16.4 years, awareness about contraceptives (100%) was found to be widespread although the utilisation rate of contraceptive (62.6%) was relatively lower. Furthermore, analysis of the current and projected interplay between Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR), Unwanted Pregnancy Rate (UPFR) and Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevalence Rate (STDPR) revealed poor health outcomes such as the incidence of a 63.9% abortion rate and a Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevalence Rate of 38.4%, these issues can be attributed to high prevalence of risky sexual activity, contraceptive demand and utilisation deficits and poor reproductive health care seeking behavior leading to poor health outcomes. The study recommends the need to strengthen University health care systems, a further subsidization of contraceptives and the formulation of a National population policy, since abstinence is increasingly becoming difficult among the study cohort.

Key words: Accessibility, Contraceptive prevalence rate, Sexual behavior, Undergraduates.