Scaling-up improved postabortion care in Egypt: Introduction to University and Ministry of Health and Population Hospitals

In Egypt, the legal, religious, and societal restrictions on abortion have constrained the provision of high-quality emergency health care services provided to postabortion patients, including links with family planning (FP) services. In 1994, a small-scale pilot study was conducted by the Egyptian Fertility Care Society and the Population Council's ANE OR/TA Project (1995) to improve postabortion care in Egypt. The study intervention included an intensive training program for physicians on the use of Manual Vacuum Aspiration instruments under local anesthesia. Physicians were also instructed in infection-control practices and counseling postabortion patients about their medical condition and FP. The study findings reflected significant improvements in the care of postabortion patients. The positive impact of this pilot study led the Population Council's ANE OR/TA Project to develop a comprehensive Introduction Program for Improved Postabortion Care in Egypt which was approved by the Government of Egypt. As noted in this report, one major component of this program is expanding the improved postabortion care services based on experiences gained in the pilot study.