The family planning clinic at Al Nur Hospital in a low income area of Baghdad has been open since 1996. The initial response was slow, the nurse recalled in the small, clean office, but now there are sometimes as many as 400 clients a day. That Saturday in May 2001, the clinic had served 172 women.
Birth control pills are the most popular form of family planning, and are offered on Saturday and Tuesdays, with condoms offered on Thursdays. The clinic charges for supplies, for example 200 dinars for a monthly cycle of pills. The price is lower than the private sector because supplies are subsidised by the Iraqi Family Planning Society.
The Society has been running 136 reproductive health clinics all over the country. These clinics are located mainly in GFIW centres, but some are located in primary health centres. The clinics are run with the active involvement of the members of GFIW, teachers, and other civil servants. The Society also provides referral services to beneficiaries, and conducts training in reproductive health.