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International Journal of
Population Studies COVID-19 and access to family planning in Africa

avenue for regularly accessing family planning services broader aspects of sexual and reproductive health among
prior to the pandemic, the lockdown likely disrupted this women, is imperative in SSA. This imperative arises from
access. One argument is that they may not have perceived the scarcity of evidence regarding the impact of COVID-19
the immediate need for contraception, as they may not have on access to family planning services in the region.
had access to their sexual partners during the lockdown.
In addition, economic activities were disrupted during Acknowledgments
the lockdown, with evidence suggesting that people’s The paper was presented at the Conference on Population
means of meeting economic needs were adversely affected. and Reproductive Health Dynamics Under COVID-19 in
Considering that the cost of services (Ogboghodo et al., Sub-Saharan Africa that was hosted by the University of
2017) and low income (Esike et al., 2017; Gujo & Kare, the Witwatersrand, South Africa through its Demography
2021) have been identified as factors influencing access and Population Studies Programme. The Conference was
to family planning services, a plausible connection can supported under the auspices of the Science Granting
be drawn between low access to family planning services Councils Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa (SGCI) and
and the disruption in economic activities due to the administered by South Africa’s National Research
lockdown. Several specific reasons were commonly Foundation in collaboration with Canada’s International
adduced for the low access to family planning during Development Research Center (IDRC), the Swedish
the COVID-19 period, including poor access to family International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida),
planning information, limited availability of family South Africa’s Department of Science and Innovation
planning counseling services, and reduced exposure to (DSI), the Fons de Recherche due Quebec (FRQ),
family planning messages in the media (Dingeta et al., the United Kingdom’s Department of International
2021; Melkie et al., 2021). Development (DFID), the United Kingdom Research and
Innovation (UKRI) through the Newton Fund.
This study exhibits both strengths and limitations. Our
thorough search of relevant electronic databases employed Funding
well-defined search terms, ensuring a comprehensive
approach; however, it is acknowledged that the search may None.
not have captured all relevant articles. Additionally, the
exclusion of articles not published in English and those Conflict of interest
unavailable online may have inadvertently overlooked No potential conflict of interest was reported by the
potential contributions to this study. Despite these authors.
limitations, the scoping review has furnished valuable
evidence regarding the impact of COVID-19 on access to Author contributions
family planning services among women in SSA. Conceptualization: Sunday A. Adedini
5. Conclusion Writing – original draft: Sunday A. Adedini, Hassan
Ogunwemimo, Clifford Odimegwu
This study reveals that COVID-19 has affected women’s Writing – review & drafting: Sunday A. Adedini, Hassan
access to family planning services. Contrary to exacerbating Ogunwemimo, Clifford Odimegwu
such access, however, the findings demonstrate a stagnant
level of access to family planning services. Therefore, Ethics approval and consent to participate
efforts aimed at improving access to reproductive health Not applicable.
services, including family planning, have proven ineffective
during the COVID-19 era, particularly when movement Consent for publication
restrictions were imposed across countries. The results of Not applicable.
this review highlight a number of potential target areas for
policy, programming, and research aimed at improving Availability of data
women’s access to family planning services during the
pandemic in SSA. There is a critical need for appropriate Not applicable.
measures to counter the disruption of family planning Further disclose
services during the outbreak of any form of disease or
epidemic. Furthermore, conducting additional studies that The earlier version of this manuscript was reviewed by
specifically examine the impact of COVID-19 on access to the organizers of the Conference on Population and
family planning services, along with the exploration of the Reproductive Health Dynamics under COVID-19, which

Volume 10 Issue 1 (2024) 16 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.365