Public-Private Coordination Committee to meet the family planning needs of women in Turkmenistan kicked off its work

Today the Coordination Committee on meeting the family planning needs of Turkmenistan kicked off its work in its first session. More than 15 members of the Committee came together to discuss how to work together to improve women’s access to reproductive health services, including contraceptives, in the context of UNFPA’s phased out assistance to the country.

Importance of data, strengthening the mechanisms in reproductive health system, building the capacity of service providers and raising the awareness of women were some of the many issues discussed at the Coordination meeting, co-facilitated by UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund.

Establishment of the new Coordination Committee On Ensuring the Supply of Reproductive Health Commodities in State and Private Pharmacies, Reproductive Health Centers and Rooms, as per the Order of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry, was the result of the UNFPA advocacy. New partnership between the government and private sector promises to reduce the gap in women’s access to reproductive health services, enabling them to realize their reproductive rights, especially those furthest behind.

Following UNFPA’s two decades of contraceptives supply in Turkmenistan, last year the Government of Turkmenistan has assumed full financial responsibility for procurement of contraceptives due to the upper-middle income level status of the country. While the Government will cover the needs of the vulnerable population, there is a need to fill the gap and meet the needs of the rest of the women of fertile age who want to use contraception. This is where the private sector comes into play.

“Nearly half of women of fertile age of Turkmenistan use modern methods of contraception,” said Bayramgul Garabayeva, UNFPA Assistant Representative. “Another 12 percent are defined as having an unmet need for modern contraception, meaning they would like to delay or avoid childbearing but do not have means or access to contraception. UNFPA welcomes the establishment of the Committee as it will provide effective coordination of stakeholders to ensure uninterrupted supply of modern contraceptives essential for ensuring reproductive health, in particular among vulnerable populations”.

During its first meeting the Committee has selected the Secretary and adopted a plan of follow-up actions, including conducting a situation analysis on real time demand of different types of contraceptives among women. Raising the awareness of the population on existing services, strengthening the mechanisms for accurately and effectively identifying the most at risk women who are in need of free contraceptives and strengthening the referral system to meet their needs were other important points of the adopted follow-up actions.