Background: An unwanted and unintended pregnancy is a major concern in a women’s life as it has its adverse social and health outcomes. Emergency contraception (EC) is safe and effective method that gives women a second chance to prevent unwanted pregnancy after unprotected intercourse.Methods: This is a community based cross sectional study done in field practice area under the department of Community Medicine, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, Punjab. A total of 400 respondents were selected by stratified random sampling from the list of eligible couples residing in the area. The interview was conducted using semi structured questionnaire, after obtaining their informed consent.Results: The mean age of respondents was 31.44±5.67 years. 68.7% of respondents were using some kind of contraception. Majority (68%) of respondents had heard of emergency contraception and for majority (81.3%) source of information about EC was Media (TV). Out of 272 respondents who had heard of emergency contraception 146 (54.1%) had negative attitude towards emergency contraception and only 30 (8%) had used ECP. Practice of ECP was found to have statistically significant association with employment and history of unwanted pregnancy.Conclusions: EC has a potential to curb the menace of unintended pregnancy thereby decreasing unsafe abortion and maternal mortality. In spite of reasonable awareness of emergency contraception, as found in present study there is wide gap for its usage. Hence behavioural change strategies should be considered to bring attitudinal change on use of emergency contraception.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has dramatically affected the lives of people worldwide. Countries and citizens are battling with the virus as well as financial losses at the same time. In these gloomy times vaccine against COVID-19 brought some ray of hope. Vaccine hesitancy, however, would not only delay this ongoing pandemic but also even cause huge economic debts on the countries. Aims and Objectives: The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence and to determine the reasons behind vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers (HCWs) at ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Faridabad, Haryana. Materials and Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among HCWs registered by government of India for COVID-19 vaccination at tertiary care center. Those who did not turn up on their day of appointment for vaccination were tracked and randomly selected for interview. Data were collected using semi structured questionnaire and was analyzed by Epi info 7.0. Results: A total of 759 HCWs out of 2029 registered at our center got vaccinated between the study periods. Mean age of participants was 28 years, including 64 (59.8%) men and 43 (40.2%) women. Most of the participants were doctors (31%) followed by medical students. Prevalence of vaccine hesitancy during study period was found to be 62.6%. The most common reason cited by participants for vaccine hesitancy was concern regarding safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine. Multiple factors, including sex, designation, and co-morbidities and whether involved in the direct care of COVID-19 patient, were found to have influence on vaccine hesitancy. Conclusion: High prevalence of vaccine hesitancy as found in the present study is an alarming sign for a successful vaccination campaign. Developing tailored strategies to address concerns identified in the study are pivotal to decrease vaccine hesitancy among HCWs and thereby in the general population.