Hampered by Cost, Zimbabweans Skip Contraceptives

Friday, July 18, 2014

HARARE —

Zimbabwe’s ailing economy appears to be impacting the use of contraceptives in that country, according to statistics released by the United Nations Population Fund.

The research, conducted for the UN and the government of Zimbabwe, found that thousands of women are getting pregnant each year because they cannot afford proper birth control methods.

“I think the data show that there are lot of women, 60 percent, who do not want to get pregnant again, but aren’t using long-acting methods,” said Dr. James Gribble from Features Group International, which conducted the research. “They are using oral contraceptives. It is kind of a mismatch. They are using a short-acting method, when they have long-term interest in not getting pregnant again.”

A nurse at a government hospital in Harare, who asked not to be identified, said the high cost of birth control forces adolescents in Zimbabwe to resort to the black market.

“The youths in the tertiary institutions and in the streets there are accessing unregistered commodities,” she said. “We do not have those statistics. So the unmet need is still there. But we need to know what they are getting from the streets or from unregistered [outlets], so that when we device our model of delivery, we will address the issue which means we are going to where they are.”

Source: Voice of America News (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Health Care
Tags
Base of the Pyramid, reproductive health