Access to healthcare is an important part of BFPA’s work. The Association provides services in the field of sexual and reproductive health in 5 cities in Bulgaria – Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Rousse, Pleven, Varna and Sofia. The main target groups of the organization are young people and marginalized groups with difficult access to services in the area of sexual health. The BFPA performs gynecological examinations, various tests and provides modern contraceptives. More than 15,000 women and men use these services annually.
Partnerships with various municipal structures and with OB/GYN specialists allow the BFPA to distribute contraceptives in many other places around the country. This way the organization’s geographic scope expands and with it the possibilities for access to contraception and specialized medical help. At the same time, as part of other initiatives we have the possibility to work directly with the target groups. For example, as part of the project Mobile services, education and trafficking prevention for women in rural areas of Bulgaria the BFPA has been providing gynecological examinations, tests and contraceptives in 16 settlements for the last 3 years. The Association had a similar approach while executing projects targeted at Roma people and other socially marginalized societies in the areas of Yambol, Pazardzhik, Montana, Dobrich, Sliven, Vidin and Stara Zagora.
The activities related to providing access to health care - especially in the area of sexual and reproductive health - are financed in two ways:
With financing from international partners, the main donor being the International Planned Parenthood Federation
With self-financing. A few years ago the BFPA registered its own health center in Sofia (owned 100% by the BFPA) as the generated income is used for execution of projects around the country.
