Pitch presentations : Health across the life course Family Planning needs and induced abortion in China : two cross-sectional studies

W-H Zhang, S Wu, M Temmerman International Centre for Reproductive Health (ICRH), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium Research Laboratory for Human Reproduction, Faculty of Medicine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium The national Research Institute for Family Planning (NRIFP), Bejing, China The department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women’s health Center of Excellent East-Africa, the Faculty of Health Science, Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Kenya Contact: weihong.zhang@ugent.be Background In China, the official estimated annual number of induced abortion ranged from 7 million to 13 million in recent year. The Chinese family planning (FP) services with a major concern on the birth control among married couples have been a political priority in China for more than thirty years until to the two child policy implemented from January 2016. Abortion is commonly used to end unintended pregnancy. This study aimed to describe the characteristics of abortion seekers in two time periods of studies in China. Methods Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted in 2005 and 2013 respectively and similar methods were used for collecting data. A questionnaire filled by the abortion service providers for all women seeking abortion within 12 weeks of pregnancy during a period of two months, the information included self-reported demographic & economic characteristics, history of induced abortion and practices regarding contraception. Twenty-four hospitals from 3 cities in 2005 and 295 hospitals from 30 provinces in 2013 participated in the studies, respectively. Results Total of participants consisted 7291 in 2005 and 79,174 in 2013 were included in the analysis. The higher repeated induced abortion were reported in 2013 (65%) than in 2005 (35%). The main reason of current unintended pregnancy was non-use of any contraception (65.1%) in 2005 and failure of contraception (50.3%) in 2013. Condom was most used as contraceptive method among married and unmarried women in both periods of studies, but the proportions of consistent and correct utilisation of condom were low in two time periods. Conclusions The large numbers of induced abortions are primarily due to contraceptive failure or no use of contraception. PAFP services are often lacking in hospital settings where majority inducted abortion were performed. Integrating post-abortion family planning into existing health system is urgent needed, which is an opportunity and a challenge in China.