Check out the chart at the bottom of this article. (I can't copy it here, the formatting won't hold.)
It looks like it's saying that 10,714,415 prescriptions for contraception were dispensed in Canada in the last year, 9,890,599 of which were for oral contraceptives.
Is that what it's saying? Because that is a shitload of contraception! Don't get me wrong, I love contraception, I'm just not sure if the numbers can work out.
The population of Canada is 33 million. So that means that nearly 1/3 of all Canadians are on some kind of contraception. But only women would be taking these prescriptions. So that means that 2/3 of all females are using contraception. But contraception is biologically unnecessary before adolescence and after the age of about fifty, not to mention women who are trying to conceive or pregnant or not sexually active or tubalized or using non-prescription contraception or whose partner is female or whose partner is vasectomized. Does this work out? Is there actually room in our population for 33 million for 10 million women who are in the market for contraception? Or am I missing something?
3 comments:
I wonder... could it be possible that they're counting refills as prescriptions, too? So that if a woman can fill 3 months of oral contraceptives at a clip, one year of pills counts as 4 scrips?
Actually, I've done the research since then.
Canada has 300,000 (to one sig dig) births every year. According to the CIA (I know, I know, but it's far more readily googleable than statscan) there are 11 million females between 15-64. 10 million are taking contraception, leaving 1 million fertile. So those 1 million women are bearing 300,000 children. Even given the fact that the last decade of that age group is most likely post-menopausal, it can still work out.
I guess this all just means that the vast majority of Canadians who don't want to get pregnant use contraception.
I guess this all just means that the vast majority of Canadians who don't want to get pregnant use contraception.
That's awesome.
Post a Comment