Trends in family planning services in Bangladesh before, during and after COVID-19 lockdowns: Evidence from national routine service data

Bangladesh instituted a national lockdown to contain community transmission of COVID-19 initially for ten days, from March 26 to April 4, 2020, then extended through May 30. During the lockdown, the pandemic and its mitigation measures’ impacts on social, economic, and financial aspects of life in Bangladesh were widely documented. Disruptions to the health system, however, have received relatively less attention. This brief provides details on a study that analyzed the impacts of COVID-19 and its related mitigation measures on family planning (FP) services in Bangladesh, examining national and district trends for distribution and use of short-acting, long-acting and reversible, and permanent contraception, utilizing publicly available service statistics from before, during, and after the lockdowns. Monthly service statistics from the Directorate General of Family Planning (DGFP) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh were examined to determine trends in distribution and provision of short-acting (pill, condom, injectables), long-acting and reversible (intrauterine device and implant), and permanent contraceptive methods from January to July 2020, utilizing service statistics from both public- and private-sector providers that constitute DGFP data