No contraceptives have been imported from the West for two years because of the shortage of hard currency. The two domestic condom factories, operating until recently under an Italian licence, have stopped production because they cannot afford to import latex. The country s only IUD factory, at Kazan, was closed down after the Health Ministry complained about the poor quality of its products. This leaves abortion as the major form of contraception. Every year some four million abortions are registered in the country, twice the number of live births.
Many more women have illegal abortions, often in unhygienic conditions.
In the current economic crisis, family planning is low on the Government s list of priorities. From New Scientist . Despite a 20-year drought the tiny desert town has a constant supply of fresh water for the first time in its history. For a brief period after 1914 Chungungo was supplied with water and electricity by the US Bethlehem Steel Company, operating what was then the largest iron-ore mine in the world. When the company pulled out Chungungo had to rely on twice-weekly water deliveries by truck.