Before you is the analysis Access to Contraceptives and Family Planning Health Services, followed by the public policy document With Better Access to Contraception and Family Planning Services to Universal Healthcare. Both documents are produced to underscore the need and importance of family planning, as well as the degree of availability and use of modern contraception in Macedonia, in comparison to the commitments fulfilled by the Government.
WITH BETTER ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTION AND FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES TO UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE
Family planning is an essential investment that improves maternal and the newborn’s health, and contributes to poverty reduction and sustainable development. Contraception is increasingly understood as a method of preserving fertility and improving health status before the planned pregnancy. This has become more and more important in societies where the average age of giving birth is getting higher.
Access to modern contraception is key to empowering women by increasing their independence and decision-making power, individually or within the family, enabling them to plan their employment and professional development more effectively, leading to an improved balance between private and professional life. Certain methods of contraception also reduce the incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.
However, when it comes to the availability and use of modern contraception, the reality in Macedonia is worrying. As an illustration, only 14% of the women in the country, who are in a relationship or married, use contraception that reliably protects against unplanned pregnancy, and the Index for Macedonia, which scores the need for family planning, complemented with modern methods within the general national Universal Health Coverage Index is rated 25, with only Albania, South Sudan, Somalia and Chad having worse index than this.
Although the state took the obligation to introduce modern contraceptives on the Positive List of Medicines back in 2010 with the National Strategy for Sexual and Reproductive Health 2010-2020, and in 2017 the Government promised to expand the Positive List with at least one modern contraceptive, we can establish that to this day no government has succeeded in improving access to contraception.
Regarding the importance of contraception and the taken commitments and obligations of the state, but also the recommendations that the state should implement as soon as possible in order to improve care for sexual and reproductive health in Macedonia, you can see the analysis available in Macedonian language or the public policy document available in Macedonian and English language.
