Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T17:13:41.139Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Paraguayan pharmacies and the sale of pseudo-abortifacients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Nelly Krayacich de Oddone
Affiliation:
Paraguayan College of Chemical Pharmacists, Asunción, Paraguay
Michele G. Shedlin
Affiliation:
Sociomedical Resource Associates, Westport, Connecticut, USA
Michael Welsh
Affiliation:
Family Health International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
Malcolm Potts
Affiliation:
Family Health International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
Paul Feldblum
Affiliation:
Family Health International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

Summary

This study was conducted in 1985 in Asunción, Paraguay, 6 years after the closure of the state supported family planning services. Data from national surveys in 1977 and 1987 permit a comparison of sources of contraceptive supplies before and after the elimination of government support for family planning. The purchase of pseudo-abortifacients from private pharmacies was used as an indication of induced abortion. After the loss of government clinics, it is suggested that some women turned to pharmacists to obtain pseudo-abortifacients when faced with unwanted pregnancy. There is an indication of increased pseudo-abortifacient use, particularly among unmarried women and those from poorer neighbourhoods.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, J. E. & Cleland, J. G. (1984) The world fertility survey and contraceptive prevalence surveys: a comparison of substantive results. Stud. Fam. Plann. 15, 1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bailey, P. E., Saavedra, L. L.Kushner, L., Welsh, M. & Janowitz, B. (1988) A hospital study of illegal abortion in Bolivia. Bull. Pan. Am. Hlth Org. 22, 27.Google Scholar
Cole, M. (1966). ‘Abortifacients’ for sale. In: Abortion in Britain. Proceedings of a conference held by the Family Planning Association, London. Pitman Medical, London.Google Scholar
David, H. P. (1970) Family Planning and Abortion in the Socialist Countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Population Council, New York.Google Scholar
Grubb, G. (1987) Women's perceptions of the safety of the pill: a survey in eight developing countries. J. biosoc. Sci. 19, 313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, A. & Ransom, W. F. (1906) Plumbism from the ingestion of diachylon as an abortifacient. Br. med. J. 1, 428.Google Scholar
Krayacich, N. & Shedlin, M. G. (1987) The Demand for Fertility Regulation Methods in Asunción Pharmacies: Final Report and Project Summary. Family Health International, Research Triangle Park, NC.Google Scholar
Miettinen, O. (1976) Estimability and estimation in case-referent studies. Am. J. Epidemiol. 103, 226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mohr, J. C. (1978) Abortion in America. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Monteith, R. S.. Carron, J. M., Warren, C. W., Melian, M. M., Castagnino, D. & Morris, L. (1988). Contraceptive use and fertility in Paraguay, 1987. Stud. Fam. Plann. 19, 284.Google Scholar
Morris, L., Anderson, J. E., Monteith, R. S., Kriskovich, R., Schoemaker, J. & Frutos, O. (1978) Contraceptive prevalence in Paraguay. Stud. Fam. Plann. 9, 272.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Potts, M., Diggory, P. & Peel, J. (1977) Abortion. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Shedlin, M. G. & Hollerbach, P. E. (1981) Modern and traditional fertility regulation in a Mexican community: the process of decision making. Stud. Fam. Plann. 12, 278.Google Scholar
Tietze, C. (1973) Two years experience with a liberal abortion law: its impact on fertility trends in New York City. Fam. Plann. Perspect. 5, 36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Der Tak, J. (1977) Abortion, Fertilitv, and Changing Legislation: An International Overview. Lexington Books, Lexington, MA.Google Scholar
Wyatt, H. V. (1984) The popularity of injections in the Third World: origins and consequences for poliomyelitis. Social Sci. Med. 19, 911.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed