Study explores role of pharmacy workers in expanding provision of medication abortion in Nepal
Feb 4, 2019
Guttmacher Institute
Nepali pharmacy owners and staff who participated in a study on medication abortion provision in pharmacy contexts expressed confidence that they can deliver safe and effective services to their clients, and that they offer an important alternative in regions where women have limited access to clinic-based abortion care. The study, conducted by Goleen Samari of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and her U.S. and Nepali collaborators, is the first to examine the perspectives of these health workers and their role in offering pharmacy-based medication abortion in Nepal.
Despite the legalization of abortion in Nepal in 2002 and subsequent expansion of services, unsafe abortion is still common and exacts a heavy toll on women, as documented in the 2016 study, “Abortion Incidence and Unintended Pregnancy in Nepal.”