Respecting, Protecting, and Fulfilling Informed Choice and Rights :
Research Studies and Reports
Factors Influencing Women’s Reproductive Health Choices in Tirana, Albania (Report No. 12)
Albania has a markedly low prevalence of modern contraceptive use, as well as high abortion rates. In addition, public-sector clients often make informal payments to health care providers for services they should receive free of charge. In 2012, RESPOND interviewed clients and obstetrician-gynecologists in Tirana, Albania, to examine factors related to contraceptive adoption, abortion usage, and the health care system. While a sizable number of abortion clients say they intend to use a modern contraceptive method in the future, many fear potential side effects and hold exaggerated ideas about these. Abortion clients are rarely counseled about contraceptives, and ob-gyns often lack adequate knowledge to provide comprehensive counseling. Providers also sometimes require women beginning use of a modern method to go through an array of tests and make multiple follow-up visits. Future efforts to improve services there should focus on educating both clients and health care providers about contraception, as well as minimizing the financial barriers imposed by excessive tests and procedures.
Available in
English (PDF, 1.9 MB)
Reproductive Health and Family Planning Services Received by Public-Sector Clients in Baku, Azerbaijan (Report No. 11)
Azerbaijan has a markedly low prevalence of modern contraceptive use, as well as high abortion rates. In addition, public-sector clients often make informal payments to health care providers for services they should receive free of charge. In 2012, RESPOND interviewed clients and obstetrician-gynecologists in Baku, Azerbaijan, to examine factors related to contraceptive adoption, abortion usage, and the health care system. While a sizable number of abortion clients say they intend to use a modern contraceptive method in the future, many fear potential side effects and hold exaggerated ideas about these. Abortion clients are rarely counseled about contraceptives, and ob-gyns often lack adequate knowledge to provide comprehensive counseling. Providers also sometimes require women beginning use of a modern method to go through an array of tests and make multiple follow-up visits. Future efforts to improve services there should focus on educating both clients and health care providers about contraception, as well as minimizing the financial barriers imposed by excessive tests and procedures.
Available in
English (PDF, 1.9 MB)
and
Azerbaijani (PDF, 2.7 MB)
Payments in the Public Sector for Reproductive Health Services in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus (Report No. 1)
Informal payments for health care services that clients are entitled to receive for free are highly prevalent in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. This review of relevant literature on the financial cost to clients in this region and secondary analysis of data from Demographic Health Surveys and Reproductive Health Surveys conducted in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia examines how financial and nonfinancial factors affect the provision of family planning and obstetric services. Barriers to quality family planning services in these countries are considerable. Contraceptive supplies are limited, method choice is inadequate, providers and consumers lack knowledge about modern contraceptive methods, and governments have shown limited commitment to family planning. In addition, informal payments made to health care providers may act as an incentive encouraging providers to promote and provide abortion over contraception.
Available in
English (PDF, 2 MB)