Azerbaijan, an oil-rich country of 8.1 million people, gained independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991. Despite recent economic gains, more than 60% of the Azeri population lives in poverty and an ongoing conflict with Armenia has displaced more than one million people, exacerbating gaps in access to health care. Where health care is available, most doctors and nurses have outdated or incorrect information about contraceptives, and few have received training to provide family planning services or counseling about how to chose the best method.  Thus while the majority of Azeri women aged 25 and older have achieved their desired family size and do not want more children, only 12% of married couples use modern contraceptives, which are perceived as dangerous, unsafe and expensive.  Like in many former Soviet republics, abortion is common in Azerbaijan. 

To address the need for improved reproductive health care, in 2004 EngenderHealth and the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health launched several programs that reach out to health care providers and Azeri women and men, through the USAID-funded ACQUIRE Project.  The goal of this collaboration is to:

• Strengthen the reproductive health care system by introducing new policies, guidelines, and medical protocols and developing a national strategy;
• Improve the quality of services by training doctors, nurses, and pharmacists to provide family planning services and improve patient counseling and infection prevention;
• Expand the availability of affordable contraception by partnering with international pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies and marketing contraception;
• Increase community awareness of family planning by developing a network of peer educators and launching a nationwide TV campaign to promote various contraceptive brands.

To date, we have reached more than 700 health providers, who have been trained to provide family planning services.  In addition, nearly 600 peer educators have provided health education to over 85,000 women and men.