Analysis of awareness, utilization patterns, and barriers in accessing E-pharmacies for family planning in Lagos state, Nigeria

<h2>ABSTRACT</h2><h3>Problem Considered</h3> Family planning is fundamental to gender equity and improvements in maternal and child health outcome. Nigeria has a fertility rate of 5.4 and her modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (mCPR) remains low at 15% and 38% among married women and sexually active unmarried women respectively. Access to family planning commodities and services continues also to be wrought with significant challenges. Digital health innovations can go a long way to address some of these challenges towards accelerating achievement of universal health coverage milestones. <h3>Methods</h3> In-Depth Interviews (IDIs) with 18 women and quantitative surveys with 1,082 women were conducted. Qualitative components explored experiences and perceptions related to FP methods and digital access to FP services and products. The quantitative component utilized R (version 4.0.5) to provide descriptive and inferential analysis of the data. <h3>Results</h3> Awareness and utilization of digital platforms for FP services was low generally with barriers to digital FP access identified to include privacy concerns, lack of trust in digital platforms, and cost issues. Quantitative findings indicate that while (87%) of respondents are aware of family planning, only (16%) of these are aware of e-pharmacies/telemedicine platforms as channels for family planning service delivery. Age, education and income were statistically significant for digital FP access and awareness (P< 0.00, 0.00 & 0.02 respectively). <h3>Conclusion</h3> The findings from this study are useful in informing programs aimed at improving digital health service awareness and utilization as well as optimization of scalable digital models linked to e-pharmacies towards increasing access to modern contraceptives.