Strengthening emergency contraception in Nepal

A national workshop on emergency contraception was organized in Nepal by the Family Health Division within the Ministry of Health in 2004, with technical assistance provided by the FRONTIERS program of the Population Council. Among many conclusions from the workshop, one recommendation was that emergency contraceptive pills (ECP) should be introduced through the government family planning program to assist in reducing unwanted pregnancies. Based on the Population Council’s past experiences with introducing and mainstreaming ECP services in Bangladesh and India, a phase-wise introduction of ECP in Nepal was recommended. The project findings suggest that Nepalese women continue to face an unmet need for ECP, and expansion of the program to additional regions within Nepal is necessary. In addition, there is an urgent need for capacity-building among providers, given their consistently weak supervision and monitoring by the health system.