Dhaka

Bangladesh / Dhaka Division / Dhaka

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 Bangladesh, women can purchase hormonal contraceptives (birth control pills) without a prescription. In 2015, it was estimated that 64.2% of Bangladeshi women used some form of contraceptive and 56.7% used modern contraceptive methods. It was estimated that 27.1% had unmet family planning needs. The most common contraceptive methods were birth control pills (32.5%) and injectables (14.1%). Other methods included the rhythm method (5.2%), male condoms (4%) and female sterilization (3.8%).

Bangladesh is a predominantly Muslim country, with 92% of the population Muslim. Generally, Muslim clerics in Bangladesh have not pushed back against birth control, allowing for incredible progress in the past few decades. Starting in the 1970s, Bangladesh began experimenting with offering door-to-door delivery of contraceptives. The studies found that, when women were offered home delivery by health care workers, they were much more likely to use birth control pills. Due to the success of these experiments, Bangladesh began to offer these services throughout the country in the 1980s. Since that time, the average birth rate in Bangladesh has decreased from 6 births to about 2.2. births per woman. As reported by the Guttmacher Institute concerning women in Bangladesh, "The main reasons pill users gave for choosing their method (cited by 35-41%) were that it is easy to use, a field-worker had delivered it to their home and they had concerns about other methods' side effects."

What to Get & Where to Get It

• You can purchase birth control pills at pharmacies in Dhaka. No prescription is needed. We've included a list of recommended pharmacies below.
• You can buy condoms and birth control pills online with the Bangladeshi company Goponjinish. Some of the birth control brands they sell are Ovacon Gold 22 Pills (65 Tk), Mypill 21 Pills (99 Tk), Novelon 21 Pills (400 Tk), Femipil Low Dose (25 Tk), Marvelon 21 Tablets (105 Tk), etc. They also sell condoms brands like Durex, Moods and Manforce. Address: goponjinish, Block - A, Lalmatia, Dhaka. Email: support@goponjinish.com. Phone number for women: 01730 332504. Phone number for men: 01730 332502.

Here are some recommended pharmacies in Dhaka:

• Care Pharmacy: House 116, Road 11, Block E, Banani, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Tel: (88-02) 883-6745.
• Health & Hope Phrama: Sabamoon Tower, 152/1/H Green Road, Panthapath, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Tel: (88-02) 913-7076, 914-5786
• Health Mart: House 67, Road 11, Block E, Banani, Dhaka, Bangladesh., Tel: (88-02) 987-3176, 0171-1138-991
• Lazz Phrama Ltd: 64/3 Lake Circus, Kalabagan, Mirpur Road, Dhaka, Bangladesh., Tel: (88-02) 911-1843.
• New Tazrin Pharmacy: 64/3 Jobaida Super Market, Lake Circus, Kolabagan, Mirpur Road, Dhaka, Bangladesh., Tel: (88-02) 811-0513, 017-3807-9272
• Pharmacy Plus: House-76/B,Road-11, Banani, Dhaka, Bangladesh., Tel: (88) 0172-096-1115
• Prescription Aid: House 82, Road 11, Block D, Banani, Dhaka, Bangladesh., Tel: (88-02) 985-0999,0192-077-8815.
• Sonar Bangla Medical: House 76, Road 11, Banani, Dhaka, Bangladesh., Tel: (88-02) 988-2016, 0174-9422-899

Emergency Contraception (Morning After Pill)

Important Notes: Emergency contraception may prevent pregnancy for three days (72 hours) and sometimes five days (120 hours) after unprotected sex. Take EC as soon as possible after unprotected sex. If you don't have access to dedicated EC, oral contraceptives can be used as replacement EC, but remember the following: 1) Only some contraceptives work as EC 2) Different contraceptives require different dosages and time schedules to work as EC 3) You must only use the first 21 pills in 28-day packs and 4) They may be less effective than dedicated EC. For general information on emergency contraceptives, click here and here.

Laws & Social Stigmas

In Bangladesh, you can purchase emergency contraception (the morning after pill) without a prescription. There are no age restrictions. Generally speaking, you can obtain emergency contraception from the following people: field workers, NGO providers, pharmacists, nurses, and physicians. In the public sector, the lowest cadre of health care workers who are permitted to sell or dispense EC are auxiliary nurses. In the private sector, the lowest cadre of workers who are allowed to sell or dispense EC are community health workers.

Historically, the Bangladeshi government introduced emergency contraceptives into the National Family Planning Program in 2001. Between the years of 2003-2004, the government trained 44,774 providers and trainers in the handling of emergency contraception. The government effort was also in collaboration with the Directorate General for Family Planning, the FRONTIERS Program of the Population Council and UNFPA. However, here have still some critical issues to address. In most cases, EC was not found to be available as part of post-rape care in hospitals or police stations. This issue is worsened by the fact that, in most cases, staff in hospitals and police stations report having received little or no training regarding post-rape care and they received no official guidelines. As of 2008, EC was not listed in Bangladesh's Essential Medicines List. In 2012, EC was distributed via 5000-10,000 IPPF outlets in Bangladesh.

You can watch a Bangladeshi commercial for Norix, an EC pill, here.

What to Get & Where to Get It

• In Bangladesh, you can buy emergency contraception (the morning after pill) at pharmacies. There are two dedicated EC (progestin-only) brands that you'll find, which are Emcon and Postinor-2. You should take take 2 pills within 120 hours after unprotected sex. Be sure to take the pills as soon as possible.
• You can also expect to see Norix and Emcon1 at pharmacies. These both contain 1.5 mg levonorgestrel, which belongs to a group of medicines called progestogen.
• You can purchase emergency contraception online in Bangladesh through Goponjinish. They sell brands like Postinor 2 (80 Tk), Norix (55 Tk) and Emcon 1 Emergency (65 Tk). However, you should only purchase EC online for future issues; you shouldn't depend on the delivery service to arrive on time if you need emergency contraception immediately. When you need EC immediately, you should go to the nearest pharmacy.

Costs

For online purchases, EC generally costs between 55-200 Tk, depending on the brand.

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs/STDs)

Important Notes - Learn about PEP and PrEP: If you think that you've been recently exposed to HIV (i.e. within 72 hours), seek out PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis). It's a month-long treatment to prevent HIV infection after exposure, and it may be available in your city. Take PEP as soon as possible. For more information, click here. If you are at risk of HIV exposure, seek out PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis). It's a daily oral pill that can prevent HIV infection before exposure. To learn more about PrEP, click here.

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.

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.