WHO: United Nations reproductive health and rights agency (UNFPA Moldova), Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection

WHAT: Public event/ quiz format discussions with persons and couples of reproductive age, including people with disabilities, and medical professionals about the right to family planning, modern contraceptives, and combating existing myths and stereotypes. As part of the event, participants will get quality information about universal right to family planning and explanation of the negative consequences on reproductive health of some products used as family planning methods in Moldova (apple vinegar, lemon juice). The key-target groups, such as people with disabilities and HIV affected persons, will also be informed about their right to benefit from free family planning services, including contraceptives.

WHERE: University Center for Simulation in Medical Training, Chisinau ( 31 August 1989, 137A street)

WHEN: 11 July, 14:00 – 16.00

WHY: All couples and individuals have the basic human right to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so. Contraception helps preventing unintended pregnancies, including teen pregnancies, and thus keep girls in school, building their life skills and opens up opportunities later in life to join the paid labor force. Family planning is essential to overcoming poverty.

KEY STATISTICS:

• Only 42% of women of reproductive age in Moldova use modern contraceptives for family planning.

• The most popular contraception method is the intrauterine device (IUD) used by one in five married or in union women.

• Traditional family planning methods are still popular in Moldova, accounting for 16% of all contraceptive methods, which has a negative impact on the rate of unwanted pregnancies.

• One in ten women of reproductive age in Moldova, currently married or in union, are not using any method of contraception, despite their wish to postpone or quit the next pregnancy.

• Unmet need for family planning is the highest among the youngest women (15-19 years) and decreases with aging.

• Over the past ten years, the share of pregnancy interruption in the 15-19 age group accounts for about 10% of the total abortions among women of reproductive age.

• The number of abortions remains about 1.5-2 times higher than in the Western European countries, which proves the unmet need in terms of modern contraception.