200 IUDs change the perspectives of 200 women and their families
If you are wondering what to support as a good Christmas cause:
HOLIDAY APPEAL
Dear friends and like-minded people! We are reaching out to you with a request for support. In one sentence: corporate donors responded to our appeal made in June of this year, we received 7,000 BGN from them, we bought 234 IUDs, which have already been inserted and there is still demand, WE NEED ANOTHER 6,000 leva FOR ANOTHER 200 IUDS! Holidays are coming and if you are wondering what cause to support, wonder no more!
The context: Most of you know that we work in the field of reproductive health. In the Roma community, the most preferred contraceptive is the IUD. Contraception is not only not covered by the health insurance, but many Roma, usually the poorest and most vulnerable, are uninsured. Ministry of Health (MH), we quote informal feedback “there is an unwritten rule not to give contraceptives because we are in a demographic crisis”. So the facts are that for years we, the Bulgarian Family Planning and Sexual Health Association (BFPA), have been the only ones in this country who, with our own efforts and funds, purchase IUDs and through various channels we make sure that they reach women in need for FREE. Our invaluable health mediators, various NGOs working in the field, Community Support Centers (CSP) and other municipal structures, and the MH and regional health inspectorates (RHI) help us with this – apparently with our IUDs it is possible.
The system has been working very well for more than 10 years, and the average amount of IUDs reaching small and large settlements throughout the country varies between 500 and 1500 per year. One IUD already costs at least 30 BGN and because there is demand, we are gasping for breath, and we don’t want to hinder the good energy – all we have is the IUDs and the courier, and the people on the ground find a way and budget to pay a gynecologist, to add an ultrasound, a pap smear to the service, well, it works out well. We buy, but the requests have increased… So, we are asking for financial support. People, one IUD changes a woman’s life – instead of giving birth to ten children and giving them to institutions or leaving them to live uneducated and in misery, instead of going to terminate a pregnancy every year, instead of explaining herself to her mother-in-law, she can calmly take care of her children, give them a good start and take care of herself too.
Because FAMILY PLANNING IS HAVING AS MANY CHILDREN AS YOU WANT, WHEN YOU WANT. FAMILY PLANNING IS RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS CHILDREN. We emphasize: the women themselves have made the request, no one is forcing them, or manipulating them… And every BGN will be transparently accounted for, of course. Write to us if you have ideas or want to help us!