Ipas > Improving access — one MVA room at a time

Improving access — one MVA room at a time

February 2, 2006

Ipas Bolivia and a public-health network have opened a special hospital room for postabortion-care services in a region that has a high maternal mortality rate.

On Dec. 15, Ipas Bolivia and the Hospital Boliviano Holandés in El Alto celebrated the inauguration of a dedicated room for manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) procedures.

Together with authorities from the La Paz Department for Health Services and community representatives, Ipas Bolivia and the Hospital Boliviano Holandés created the room to help increase access to postabortion care (PAC) services for women in El Alto, Bolivia’s third largest city and a close neighbor to the capital, La Paz.

“Ipas works to ensure that women receive high-quality abortion care and are treated respectfully,” said Eliana Del Pozo, director of Ipas Bolivia. “Through the renovation of this room, health personnel will have a designated space to provide better health services” under more private conditions.

Those services are particularly needed in El Alto, which has a majority indigenous population. In Bolivia, 2001 figures from its national statistics institute indicate that there are 420 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births — among the highest rates in Latin America. And maternal deaths are typically much higher in communities with a strong native presence.

The MVA room will be an essential piece in the reduction of maternal deaths, but it will also reduce how much time women spend in the hospital to receive PAC services.

“Women will be able to return to their homes more quickly,” Del Pozo said. “Hospital costs will be reduced by permitting ambulatory services, and most importantly, women will no longer leave the facility traumatized because they will be receiving special care that respects their privacy.”

Dr. Lidia Durán, the chief of gynecology in the hospital, said that the hospital provides free PAC care for approximately 1,500 women per year. She anticipates that the new room will enable the hospital to help an even greater number of women.

To further improve services, PAC Program Coordinator Dr. Raúl Verástegui announced plans to implement COMPAC, an Ipas-developed system to monitor and improve the quality of postabortion services for women.

Hospital Boliviano Holandés belongs to a public network that includes six additional health facilities serving approximately 800,000 inhabitants in its surrounding area.

The inauguration fulfills a goal set five years ago, but lack of money delayed the project. Ipas and the health-care network partnered to pay for the establishment and equipping of the MVA room.

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258