Marking World Population Day on July 11, Population Foundation of India (PFI) has kicked off a campaign for making men more responsible when it comes to the use of contraception. What sets this initiative apart is a quirky rap song called ‘Condom Bole’, composed by Piyush Kanojia, which promotes the use of condoms for safe sex practices.
The campaign has been launched under PFI’s transmedia (available on multiple media including TV, radio, internet and call phone) show Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon.
“In India, the burden of family planning falls on women. As per the National Family Health Survey of 2015-16 (NFHS-4), women are the users of nearly 88% of all modern contraceptive methods adopted by currently by women or their partners in the age group of 15 – 49 years,” a media release by PFI said.
PFI also said that the Economic Survey of 2019-20 released on July 4 made a strong case for using behaviour change to address social norms. “The Survey points out that people’s behaviour is influenced significantly by social norms, and desired behaviour change can be encouraged by repeated reinforcement and reminders of successful past actions,” it added.
Poonam Muttreja, executive director of Population Foundation of India pointed out, “Decisions regarding contraception are closely linked to social norms and couples face huge pressures from their families and society to prove their fertility. Also, while there is high knowledge about contraception, adoption of methods, especially by men, is restricted because of many prevailing myths.”
The rap song released under PFI’s campaign makes several points – such as using a condom to prevent unplanned pregnancies as well as safeguarding against STIs. On why they chose this medium to put forth their message, Feroz Abbas Khan, creative director of MKBKSH, said that apart from reaching out to the youth, “the condom rap allows us to talk about contraception and family planning, issues which are treated as taboo and controversial in our society without sounding preachy.”
Watch the video of the song here: