A descriptive analysis of sexual and reproductive health services for refugees provided through minimum initial service package approach

Year 2024, , 136 - 148, 16.08.2024

Şevkat Bahar- Özvarış , İlknur Yüksel- Kaptanoğlu , Türküler Erdost , Hande Konşuk- Ünlü

https://doi.org/10.20518/tjph.1407485

Abstract

Objective: Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a priority public health emergency response for women during humanitarian crisis situations as they face the risk of being neglected in health care systems of the country of arrival. This study aimed to investigate Syrian women’s utilization of SRH services through Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) approach, who received services from Women Health Counseling Units (WHCU) established as part of a collaborative Project in Türkiye.

Methods: Questionnaires were administered face-to-face by Arabic-speaking female interviewers to 413 Syrian women who previously received services from the WHCU. Descriptive statistics were used and Pearson chi-square as well as Exact chi-square tests were conducted to analyse bivariate differences between categorical variables.

Results: Child marriages were common among more than half (59%) of the participants. Majority of deliveries took place in the public hospitals (95%) and as attended by a doctor (93%). The percentage of participants using modern contraceptive methods was found to be 39.7% who were more frequently from younger age groups. However, the withdrawal method was relatively more prevalent among older participants.

Conclusion: Despite the data being gathered from a limited population of Syrian women in Türkiye, the study offers descriptive, evidence-based insights on improving women’s access to high-quality SRH services in line with the MISP approach during humanitarian crisis situations.

Keywords

Sexual and Reproductive Health, MISP, Syrian Women, Humanitarian Crises

Ethical Statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate Ethical Committee approvals were obtained from the Hacettepe University Non-Interventional Clinical Research Ethics Board (Decision No: GO 17/243-30) and the MoH. Written informed consents were received from all participants. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Supporting Institution

Funding The study was conducted as part of ‘Strengthening Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Sexual and Gender Based Violence Services for Syrian and Other Refugees thru Women and Girl Safe Spaces (WGSS)/Women Health Counselling Units Project’ financially supported by the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) however, authors received no financial support for manuscript writing and submission.

Thanks

Acknowledgements The researchers wish to extend their sincere gratitude to the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) for providing financial support, to the UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund for providing technical support and to the MoH - Ankara Health Directorate for providing a conducive work environment throughout the implementation phase of the ‘Strengthening Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Sexual and Gender Based Violence Services for Syrian and Other Refugees thru Women and Girl Safe Spaces (WGSS)/Women Health Counselling Units Project’, staff of the project, interviewers as well as Syrian women who shared their experience.

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