NSW: Concern about cuts to family planning

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NSW: Concern about cuts to family planning

By Judy Skatssoon, National Medical Writer

SYDNEY, April 15 AAP - Cuts to family planning services in NSW, including the pendingclosure of three Sydney clinics, could result in higher rates of unwanted pregnancy, women'shealth advocates said today.

The CEO of FPA Health NSW, Margaret Hansford, yesterday told AAP a "changing externalenvironment" had prompted the decision to "consolidate" FPA's eight NSW sites into four.

This included closing down three of FPA's four inner metropolitan sites, possibly bythe end of the year.

FPA Health provides tens of thousands of women a year with free sexual and reproductivehealth services such as pap smears, pregnancy tests and contraceptive assistance.

The convenor of the Australian Women's Health Network, Dr Helen Keleher, said the cutbacksmay make it more difficult for women - particularly young women and those from disadvantagedbackgrounds - to access these services.

"I think (increased unwanted pregnancies and increased rates of sexually transmittedinfections) are both risks and they're very apparent risks," she said.

"Those conditions are already with us, we have increasing numbers of women with chlamydia,we already have around 90,000 abortions a year, which is one of the highest in the world.

"Unless we're offering a well funded, public, universally available system for womenthen I think women are underdone."

The pending cutbacks come as the private London-based global sexual health organisationMarie Stopes International prepares to launch its national Australian network tomorrow.

Marie Stopes, which will charge clients on a sliding scale, offers a wide range ofclinical services including abortions.

Ms Hansford denied lack of funding and the medical indemnity crisis, which forced FPAto temporarily close its doors last year, had played a role in the decision to cut backon services.

However, a spokeswoman for the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) said commonwealthfunding for family planning in NSW, which currently came to $8 million a year, had beencut by 25 per cent over the past five years.

She said 38 per cent of FPA's clients were aged under 24.

Ms Hansford said reducing infrastructure costs would allow FPA to concentrate on healthpromotion, training and information, while women would be able to see their GP or othersexual health service providers for clinical services.

"It's about developing our services in a way that we assist people into the mainstream,to good GPs, to access good information ... it's actually about reaching more people,"

she said.

AAP jjs/gl/de

KEYWORD: FPA