Page 11 - IJPS-10-1

International Journal of

Population Studies

REVIEW ARTICLE
COVID-19 and access to family planning among

women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan
Africa: A scoping review

Sunday A. Adedini *, Hassan Ogunwemimo , and Clifford O. Odimegwu 2
1,2
3
1 Department of Demography and Social Statistics, Faculty of Social Sciences, Federal University
Oye-Ekiti, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti, Nigeria
2 Demography and Population Studies Programme, Schools of Public Health and Social Sciences,
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
3 Centre for Data Science and Health Metrics, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo City, Ondo,
Nigeria
(This article belongs to Special Issue: Population and Reproductive Health Dynamics under
Covid-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa)

Abstract

This study examined the impact of COVID-19 on access to family planning for
women of reproductive age (defined as ages 15 – 49) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Employing a scoping review methodology, we retrieved relevant literature spanning
the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 eras, drawing information from major electronic
databases. Inclusion criteria required studies addressing family planning and sexual
*Corresponding author: and reproductive health among women of reproductive age in SSA. This review
Sunday A. Adedini encompassed 36 published studies, with two-thirds of these originating from the
(sunday.Adedini@fuoye.edu.ng) pre-COVID-19 period. The majority of the studies utilized quantitative methodology
Citation: Adedini, S.A., (89%). While some evidence corroborates our hypothesis regarding the impact of
Ogunwemimo, H., Odimegwu, COVID-19 on family planning services in SSA, initial findings somewhat downplayed
C.O. (2024). COVID-19 and this impact. However, a sensitivity bias test revealed a discernible effect of the COVID-19
access to family planning among
women of reproductive age in sub- pandemic on women’s access to family planning services. The results of this review
Saharan Africa: A scoping review. hold significance for policymakers and program implementers striving to mitigate the
International Journal of Population impact of COVID-19 on access to family planning services among women in SSA.
Studies, 10(1):5-20.
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.365
Received: September 19, 2022 Keywords: Family planning; Access to family planning; COVID-19; Women; Scoping
Accepted: December 1, 2023 review; Sub-Saharan Africa
Published Online: December 21, 2023
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article 1. Introduction
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has adversely impacted the public health
License, permitting distribution, and socioeconomic conditions of individuals, families, and societies across the
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is world (Buheji et al., 2020; Das et al., 2022). Various stakeholders and multilateral
properly cited. organizations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and
Publisher’s Note: AccScience World Health Organization (WHO), have issued warnings regarding the potentially
Publishing remains neutral with devastating consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic (WHO, 2020). This pandemic
regard to jurisdictional claims in represents the most significant global public health emergency since the Spanish flu that
published maps and institutional
th
affiliations. ravaged the world in the 20 century (Dasgupta et al., 2020). Before the widespread

Volume 10 Issue 1 (2024) 5 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.365