THE Crisis Pregnancy Agency, which was set up eight years ago and has been bringing about improvements on difficult and sometimes contentious issues, has now come under the umbrella of the HSE.
The transition was over-seen, in the past week, by the Agency’s chairperson, Water-ford woman, Katharine Bulbulia, at a function also attended by the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese.
In its eight years, Ms. Bulbulia said the Agency had published 30 research reports and made significant progress in addressing an issue which affects one in every five women aged 15-34.
Since the Agency began its work in 2001, there has been a decrease of 30% in the number of women travelling from Ireland to the UK for abortion.
“Looking back over the past eight years, the Agency has seen and responded to immense cultural changes both technologically, in how those experiencing crisis pregnancy look for help, and culturally in how crisis preg-nancy is viewed by society. Responding effectively to the evolving needs of a changing society will continue to necessitate a concerted focus on research, service development, communications, partnership and evaluation, placing the Agency and its partners in a solid position to respond to the issue into the future,” Ms Bulbulia said.
