Tables
Table 1.	Estimated Ever Use of Oral Contraceptives Among Married and Sexually Active Unmarried Women Ages 15–49, by Region, 2000
Table 2.	Estimated Current Oral Contraceptives Use Among Married and Sexually Active Unmarried Women Ages 15–49, by Region, 2000
Table 3.	Myocardial Infarction
Table 4.	Ischemic Stroke
Table 5.	Hemorrhagic Stroke

Table 1.
Estimated Ever Use of Oral Contraceptives Among Married and
Sexually Active Unmarried Women Ages 15–49, by Region, 2000

Region	Married Women			Sexually Active Unmarried Women
	% Ever Using OCs	% Ever Using Any Method	% of Ever Users of Family Planning Ever Using OCs	% Ever Using OCs	% Ever Using Any Method	% of Ever Users of Family Planning Ever Using OCs
ASIA*	16.9	56.0	30.1
East Asia (except China)	14.2	85.9	16.6
India	5.3	46.9	11.3
South Central Asia (except India)	21.8	49.1	44.4
Southeast Asia	38.8	78.5	49.4
LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN	55.1	84.0	65.5	54.5	88.6	61.5
Caribbean	42.7	69.8	61.1	48.0	59.1	81.2
Central America	41.4	76.8	53.8	60.5	89.1	68.0
South America	61.8	88.3	70.0	53.4	92.4	57.8
NEAR EAST & NORTH AFRICA	35.7	71.0	50.3
Near East	31.6	76.1	41.6
North Africa	43.3	61.6	70.3
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA	14.5	35.6	40.8	23.2	60.8	38.2
Central Africa	7.1	39.6	18.1	11.4	67.0	17.0
East Africa	19.5	41.4	47.1	19.7	43.8	44.9
Southern Africa	48.7	82.9	58.7	35.6	73.0	48.7
West Africa	7.4	21.9	33.8	20.9	61.9	33.9
All developing areas except China	23.4	57.8	40.3
All developing areas except China & India	31.6	63.0	50.2
*Totals for Asia do not include China, since recent survey data on ever-use are not available. Also, few or no data are available on unmarried women in countries of Asia, Near East and North Africa. Sources: Demographic and Health Surveys, Reproductive Health Surveys, and US Bureau of the Census International Database

Return to Chapter 2.1


Table 2.
Estimated Current Oral Contraceptives Use Among Married and
Sexually Active Unmarried Women Ages 15–49, by Region, 2000

Region	Married Women			Sexually Active Unmarried Women
	% Using OCs	Number Using OCs (in Millions)	% of Family Planning Users Using OCs	% Using OCs	Number Using OCs (in Millions)	% of Family Planning Users Using OCs
DEVELOPING AREAS
ASIA*	4.5	29.3	7.7
China	3.1	7.6	3.7
East Asia (except China)	1.9	0.3	2.6
India	1.2	2.5	2.9
South Central Asia (except India)	7.5	6.6	28.9
Southeast Asia	13.5	12.4	23.4
LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN	13.8	11.4	20.3	23.5	3.2	35.0
Caribbean	10.4	0.6	17.7	12.3	0.2	22.9
Central America	8.4	1.9	13.2	21.6	0.7	40.2
South America	16.4	9.0	23.1	25.6	2.4	34.9
NEAR EAST & NORTH AFRICA	13.3	9.8	29.7
Near East	10.6	5.1	23.2
North Africa	18.3	4.7	42.5
PACIFIC (OCEANIA)	5.2	0.1	18.8
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA	3.6	3.6	23.4	10.4	1.5	24.3
Central Africa	0.9	0.1	7.6	4.0	0.1	7.9
East Africa	5.3	2.1	30.6	8.1	0.3	27.9
Southern Africa	10.5	0.7	19.8	22.3	0.8	38.4
West Africa	1.9	0.8	20.8	6.1	0.4	15.6
All developing areas	6.0	54.3	11.2
All developing areas except China & India	9.8	44.2	23.1
DEVELOPED AREAS
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND	23.4	0.8	30.9	36.1	0.5	65.0
EASTERN EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA	5.8	3.8	9.0	6.5	0.6	13.1
EUROPE	30.9	18.4	40.7	44.6	10.2	54.6
North	24.3	2.6	30.0	41.6	2.3	58.0
South	14.1	3.3	19.4	26.4	1.5	39.6
West	49.0	12.5	63.8	55.0	6.4	68.9
NORTH AMERICA	16.1	6.5	21.1	35.8	6.4	42.2
All develped areas	15.9	29.7	22.5	31.1	17.7	44.0
WORLD	7.7	84.0	13.6
*Few or no data are available on unmarried women in countries of Asia, Near East and North Africa. Sources: Demographic and Health Surveys, Reproductive Health Surveys, and US Bureau of the Census International Database

Return to Chapter 2.2


Table 3.
Myocardial Infarction
Relative Risk Among Current Users of Oral Contraceptives (OCs)
Compared with Nonusers, by History of Hypertension, Smoking
Behavior, and Blood Pressure Check Before Starting OCs

	Overall Risk		No History of Hypertension		History of Hypertension		Nonsmokers		Light Smokersa		Heavy Smokersb
Developing-country hospitals	4.8		3.7		15.3		4.5		10.7		22.6
European hospitals	5.0		3.9		68.1		4.0		5.0		87.0
	No Blood Pressure Checkc						Blood Pressure Checkc
	Nonsmokers			Smokers			Nonsmokers			Smokers
Developing-country hospitals	9.6			31.0			1.1			9.1
European hospitals	16.4			71.4			1.1			26.6
a Light smoker = less than 10 cigarettes per day b Heavy smoker = 10 or more cigarettes per day c Among women with no history of hypertension other than that associated with pregnancy, diabetes, rheumatic heart disease, or abnormal blood lipids. Source: WHO 1997 (539, 540)

Return to Chapter 4.1


Table 4.
Ischemic Stroke
Relative Risk Among Current Users of Oral Contraceptives (OCs)
Compared with Nonusers, by History of Hypertension, Smoking
Behavior, and Blood Pressure Check Before Starting OCs

	Overall Risk	No History of Hypertension		History of Hypertension	Nonsmokers	Smokers
Developing-country hospitals	2.9	2.7		14.5	2.6	4.8
European hospitals	3.0	2.7		10.7	2.1	7.2
	No Blood Pressure Check			Blood Pressure Check
	Under Age 35	Age 35 and Over	All Ages	Under Age 35	Age 35 and Over	All Ages
Developing-country hospitals	2.6	5.9	3.8	1.6	2.7	1.9
European hospitals	2.8	5.9	3.9	2.2	2.5	2.3
Sources: Poulter 1996 (367), WHO 1997 (540)

Return to Chapter 4.1


Table 5.
Hemorrhagic Stroke
Relative Risk Among Current Users of Oral Contraceptives Compared
with Nonusers, by History of Hypertension and by Smoking Behavior and Age

	Overall Risk		No History of Hypertension		History of Hypertension
Developing-country hospitals	1.8		1.4		14.3
European hospitals	1.4		1.1		10.3
	Nonsmokers			Smokers
	Under Age 35	Age 35 and Over	All Ages	Under Age 35	Age 35 and Over	All Ages
Developing-country hospitals	0.9	2.3	1.5	2.6	5.4	3.7
European hospitals	0.7	2.4	1.2	2.7	3.9	3.1
Sources: WHO 1996, 1997 (537, 540)

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