What does society expect from health policy makers in reproductive health?

Med Law 18(2-3):285-7 (1999) PMID 10536392

Family planning, and preventive measures generally, are very important for the health of a society. Despite this, official policy in Hungary has not given them enough support and recognition in recent years. The latest "act for the protection of the fetus," issued some years ago, dealt mainly with abortion; shortly thereafter, the health insurance stopped subsidizing the cost of contraceptives. Nowadays, patients must pay full price not only for condoms, but for pills, IUDs and even sterilization. The cost of preventing unwanted pregnancies became high; for many today, the reliable, modern methods are almost unaffordable. This situation is more than strange in a country with such high numbers and rates of induced abortion. Another problem is that service providers have too few resources. In the wake of the political and fiscal changes that have taken place since the early 1990s, the state does not have enough money to meet the need for this type of preventive work. There are still few non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Hungary: those that there are do not yet have the financial strength to sponsor these initiatives. In light of these circumstances, decision makers concerned to reverse the disturbing demographic trends should concentrate on changing the health policy.