Condoms Out of Stock... "Please Stop Having Kids": Country to Deliver Contraceptive Pills Door to Door

Bangladesh Faces Contraceptive Supply Disruptions
Household Visits and Supply Distribution to Begin in December

The Bangladesh government will launch a nationwide family planning campaign in December to address rising fertility and declining contraceptive use. The plan is to support birth control by delivering contraceptives and related supplies directly to households and providing family planning counseling.

On October 7, local media in Bangladesh, including The Business Standard, reported that Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Sakhawat Hossain had announced at a press conference that a nationwide family planning campaign would begin on December 1. The campaign will run for one year, through November 30, 2027. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman may also attend the event launching the campaign.

The campaign slogan is "Two children or fewer, and one is even better." The government plans to use community activities such as traditional songs and sporting events to raise awareness of the need for family planning, and to provide residents with contraceptives and related supplies. It also plans to send workers to homes to explain contraceptive methods and offer counseling.

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The campaign comes as Bangladesh's fertility rate has risen again and contraceptive use has declined. According to the 2025 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF, the total fertility rate rose from 2.3 children per woman in 2019 to 2.4 in 2025. The contraceptive prevalence rate fell from 62.7% to 58.2% over the same period.

Bangladesh has pursued family planning policies for decades, substantially reducing its fertility rate. The average number of children born per woman fell from 6.3 in 1975 to 2.3 in 2012. However, there are concerns that these gains are being eroded as the supply of contraceptives and frontline services have weakened in recent years.

According to data from the Bangladesh Directorate General of Family Planning, the government's procurement of contraceptives was disrupted after it was suspended in July 2024. Health authorities said a 2025 survey found that access to condoms, oral contraceptive pills, intrauterine devices (IUDs) and other methods had worsened. As of October 7, 2026, condoms were out of stock in 198 administrative areas, oral contraceptive pills in 354 areas, and IUD supplies had been interrupted in 428 areas.

The Bangladesh government says procurement of contraceptives is nearing completion and that it plans to resume distribution in the field starting in December. The government believes that residents of rural areas, who have difficulty obtaining free or low-cost contraceptives, have been particularly affected.

However, some say that ensuring the campaign's effectiveness will require not only public outreach but also a stable supply of medical staff and contraceptives. The Bangladesh Directorate General of Family Planning said it is short of about 37% of the personnel it needs, making it difficult to carry out enough home visits and counseling.

Professor Mainul Islam of the Department of Population Sciences at the University of Dhaka also stressed the need for measures targeting vulnerable groups and areas with limited access to services, saying, "It is difficult to achieve results through public outreach alone when people cannot actually access contraceptives."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.