Lack of contraception availability a growing concern, says report

THE Stop Stockouts Project (SSP) has cited the unavailability of termination of pregnancy services as among the key challenges concerning access to contraceptives. Their recent report titled Contraceptive Supply Chain: Stockouts and their Causes found most of the surveyed facility managers reported that they referred healthcare users seeking termination services to other facilities. The report details the experiences of healthcare users in accessing contraceptives and includes interviews with public health facility managers to establish the causes of poor access and the mitigation measures in place. The report analyses interview data provided by managers and directors from the National Department of Health, and the KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and North West health departments. Between April 2022 and June 2023, SSP together with the Ritshidze Project also surveyed public health users to assess…