Addis Ababa

Ethiopia / Oromia / Addis Ababa

OVERVIEW

Contraception (Birth Control)

General Note: There are many types of contraceptives, also known as "birth control," including IUDs, oral contraceptives, patches, shots, and condoms, etc. If you would like to view a full list, click here.

Laws & Social Stigmas

In Ethiopia, you can purchase birth control without a prescription. While many contraceptive options are available to Ethiopian women, and some are entirely free, the rate of usage is not supremely high. It is estimated that about 36% of Ethiopian women (of reproductive age) use some form of contraception. The most popular methods are injectables (25.1%), implants (7.6%), pills (4.2%) and other traditional methods (3.2%). When young women (ages 15-24) engage in unprotected or "high-risk" sex, about 17% use condoms.

This can be partially attributed to the fact that many Ethiopian women live in rural areas, where the nearest access to a health center can be a full day's walk. Furthermore, religion plays a critical role in Ethiopian society, with the most predominant religions being Ethiopian Orthodoxy (43.5%), Islam (33.9%) and Pentay Protestantism (20.6%). The Ethiopian Orthodox Church prohibits any form of contraception, while women of many religious backgrounds feel social, cultural and religious pressure to avoid contraception. This means that, even for urban women, where they may have health care facilities in their own neighborhoods, they may not seek out contraceptive methods. Some women may even choose to have secret occasional abortions rather than engage in a regular contraceptive plan.

However, the Ethiopian government has worked to improve family planning options. As reported by Buzzfeed, "The push has been part of Ethiopia’s efforts to achieve the eight UN Millennium Development Goals — two of which include reducing child and maternal mortality — by 2015. In exchange, groups like the World Bank have agreed to cancel Ethiopia’s debt." From 2008-2011, the rate of hormonal contraceptive use for married women jumped from 8% to 29%. The government built 3500 health centers, many of them in rural areas, which staff midwives.

Public knowledge of STI prevention methods can be improved. According to a 2014 study, "Two-thirds of Ethiopian women aged 15–24 are aware that condom use and having one uninfected partner reduces the risk of HIV infection (62% and 68%, respectively), but only 24% have a comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS, defined as knowing both of these HIV-prevention methods, knowing that a healthy personal can be HIV positive and being able to reject two common misconceptions about HIV transmission."

What to Get & Where to Get It

Testing Facilities

• Henry van Ameringen Health and Community Development Center: Services include: Full laboratory including HIV, STI, and TB counseling and testing, CD4 monitoring, hematology, chemistry and microscopy services. "The Henry van Ameringen Health and Community Development Center, located in the Shola Market in Addis Ababa, was the first location established upon ASC’s return to Ethiopia in September 2003. Located in the largest open-air market in Addis, this clinic provides free services to over 6,000 of the most vulnerable people in this community, each year."
• Bethzatha Medical Center: Provides Confidential HIV Antibody Testing, Counseling, HIV Antibody Testing, Hospital Services, Laboratory Services, STD Testing, STD Treatment, TB Prevention & TB Testing. "Mission: Provide quality and efficient health service to Ethiopian public Objective: 1-Provide services, 2-Involvement in research, 3-Training Established: 1995"

Support

• Henry van Ameringen Health and Community Development Center: "Services include:Community outreach and HIV prevention education, Antiretroviral treatment, TB and STI treatment, and treatment to prevent opportunistic infections, Treatment adherence support & Pediatric HIV/AIDS case management.

Medications & Vaccines

What to Get & Where to Get It

• Ethiopia has an HPV vaccination pilot program in place (as of 2016).
• There appears to be no Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, available in Ethiopia.

Menstruation

Note: In addition to pads and tampons, you can also use menstrual cups and menstrual underwear for your period. To learn more about menstrual cups, click here. To learn more about menstrual underwear, click here.

What to Get & Where to Get It

In Addis Ababa, you can find pads in most grocery stores. Outside of Addis Ababa (and especially in rural areas), it's much more difficult to find menstrual products. There appears to be no official sellers of menstrual cup brands, like DivaCup, MoonCup, Lunette and LadyCup, in Ethiopia, so those brands should be purchased online.

Gynecological Exams

What to Get & Where to Get It

• Marie Stopes International - Ethiopia: "We provide comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services through a network of centres. These facilities provide a wide range of services including: general medical consultation, comprehensive family planning; pre- and post-natal care; child health checks; free condom provision; voluntary testing and counseling on HIV; and STI screening and treatment." Address: Marie Stopes International Ethiopia, P.O. BOX 5775, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abortion

Important Note: There are two main types of abortions: medical (also known as the "abortion pill") and surgical (also known as "in-clinic"). For medical abortions, you take a pill to induce abortion. For surgical abortions, a procedure is performed to induce abortion. For general information about medical and surgical abortions, click here.

List of Additional Resources

• Tigray Trek 242: "Tigray Trek 242 is 242 kilometer run through the Tigray region of Ethiopia designed to be an attention-getting way of raising awareness of HIV and teaching dynamic and interactive approaches to HIV prevention to over 1000 Tigrawa people by Peace Corps Ethiopia volunteers and their community counterparts."