Manama

Bahrain / Manama

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 Bahrain, you can purchase oral contraceptives (birth control) without a prescription at pharmacies.

In 2015, around 66% of women in Bahrain (who were married/in unions and of reproductive) used some form of birth control, including traditional methods. This rate of usage was noticeably higher than the Western Asian average (58%), however it was still found that around 11% of women in Bahrain had unmet family planning needs.

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

There are no emergency contraceptive pills (morning after pills) registered in Bahrain.

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.

Laws & Social Stigmas

If you are a foreigner who is visiting Bahrain for a short-term stay, you can freely visit the country, regardless of your HIV status. You will not be asked for a medical certificate or proof of your HIV status. However, if you are a foreigner who plans to stay in the country for longer than 30 days, you will need to apply for a residence permit. To obtain the residence permit, you will be required to take medical exams in the country, including an HIV test. If you are found to be HIV-positive during the course of your exams, you will not be granted a residence permit and you will be immediately deported. There are rare exceptions to this case for diplomats, but in the case of nearly all other foreigners, an HIV-positive diagnosis means deportation.

Medications & Vaccines

What to Get & Where to Get It

• If you have a yeast infection, you can go to the pharmacy for medication. You can ask the pharmacist for Fluconazole, which is the type of medication used to treat fungal infections. While they may not specifically have Fluconazole, they may have similar products that you can use.
• If you have a urinary tract infection (UTI), we're not sure what is normal protocol in Bahrain. You may want to contact a local clinic or physician for details. Also, if you know how to get UTI treatment in Bahrain, please update this section.
• There is no nationwide HPV vaccination program in Bahrain, as of July 2017. It is estimated that about 43% of women (ages 15-49) had ever been screened for cervical cancer, but there's no data related to how many women have received HPV vaccines.
• There is currently no Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PreP) program in Bahrain, as of May 2018.

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.

Laws & Social Stigmas

In Bahrain, the most common form of menstrual products is pads or pantyliners. While tampons are sold, they are less readily available and less commonly used by women. You can read a 2015 post here, about a foreigner women trying to find tampons in Bahrain. There are some small-scale sellers of alternative menstrual products, like menstrual cups, but they are not common. You can read a blog post here about a local woman in Bahrain who uses a DivaCup (menstrual cup).

What to Get & Where to Get It

• In Bahrain, the most common form of menstrual products are pads/pantyliners. You should be able to find them in supermarkets, pharmacies, and online shops.
• While tampons are less common than pads, you can find them sold in Bahrain at certain supermarkets, pharmacies, and online stores. For example, you can find tampons sold online at Nasser Pharmacy and Wafi, both which are online retailers that specially provide for the Bahraini market. You can also find organic tampons sold through online vendors, such as iHerb, Desert Cart, and UBuy.
• Regarding menstrual cups, you may be able to find DivaCup at Organic Foods & Café in Seef Mall. You can also find menstrual cups sold through online retailers, such as iHerb (which sells DivaCup and Lunette), UBuy (which sells DivaCup, LENA, Blossom, Dutchess, Athena, etc) and Desert Cart (which sells DivaCup and MoonCup).
• You can also find alternative menstrual products, such as menstrual cups, sold in Dubai.

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

• Click here to learn about LGBTQ rights and laws in Bahrain. As of May 2018, homosexuality is a grey area (i.e. not clearly legal or illegal) and it is legal to change gender. However, homosexual marriage is illegal, and there are laws to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination related to housing or employment. Conversion therapy is also legal in Bahrain, but we don't know to what extent, if any, it is practiced.