A Systematic review of sexual and reproductive health needs, experiences, access to services, and interventions among the rohingya and the afghan refugee women of reproductive age in Asia

INTRODUCTION: Approximately 9.2 million refugees live in Asia, with most originating from Afghanistan and Myanmar, and half of them are women, girls, and children. Humanitarian crises disrupt the existing health-care system, limiting access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. This review explores the SRH status of Afghan and Rohingya refugee women of reproductive age in Asia and their needs and experiences in accessing these services and commodities.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used the PRISMA checklist and searched for qualitative and quantitative peer-reviewed studies from five online bibliographic databases, SCOPUS, EMBASE (Ovid), MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL, and PROQUEST, from January 2000 to April 2021. Content analysis was undertaken following the minimum initial service package objectives.

RESULTS: Fifteen studies were included in this review from four countries: Bangladesh (5), Pakistan (5), Iran (4), and Malaysia (1). Approximately 50.91% of Rohingya and 54% of Afghan refugee women used contraceptives. About 56.6% of Afghan refugee mothers experienced pregnancy-related complications, one-third received antenatal care, and low birth weight was 2.6 times higher among infants born to Afghan refugee mothers than to Pakistani-born mothers. One out of five Rohingya women received delivery-related care. Approximately 72% of Rohingya and 79.8% of Afghan refugee women had experienced gender-based violence, and 56.5% of Rohingya women engaged in unwanted sexual intercourse with their husbands.

CONCLUSION: Social norms, stigma, cultural values, distrust of providers, inadequate staff, and prohibition by family members limit their access to SRH services and influence their needs, knowledge, and perceptions regarding SRH.