It is important to understand the social, physical, and administrative environment in which the grassroots components of a health program function and provide services.

The study of human sexuality is not a recent interest. The history of sexual medicine is the history of human existence; the thread of sexuality is woven deeply in its fabric.

One of the purposes of family planning programmes in developing countries is to provide for the unmet needs of couples for contraception.

Contraception as a behavioral phenomenon has been the focus of many population researches, during the last half a century. In fact, explaining contraceptive behavior is a complex theoretical effort. Learning, motivation,

Information on the determinants of contraceptive failure and the effects or outcome of such failure has important implications for the study of fertility as well as for women's health.

Acceptance and sustained use of family planning especially of modern spacing methods have generally been low in developing countries particularly in India. The use rate for modern spacing methods was only 6 per cent among the eligible couples in India in 1992 (IIPS, 1995).

The MCH services are offered at Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and their subcenters in the rural areas, and by general hospitals, women's and children's hospital and MCH centers run by State Health Departments and also through Municipal and Voluntary Organizations in the urban areas.

A woman would prefer to prevent an unwanted pregnancy rather than having an abortion or carrying the pregnancy to term. No amount of legal or religious restrictions, social stigma or lack of access to professional care can stop her if she decides to seek termination of an unplanned pregnancy.

The paper uses the National Family Health Survey (NFHS, 1992-93) data to examine the extent to which sex preferences have constrained the success of the family planning programme and inhibited the acceptance of contraception in the different states of the country.

In the year 1950, injectable contraceptives were developed (containing only progestin). For the treatment of endometriosis and endometrial cancer as well as of painful menstrual periods, (dysmenorrhoea), excessive hair growth (hirsutism), and bleeding disorders, progestins were finally used.