Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) champions’ network: A new agenda for women’s health reform in sub-Saharan Africa
), Godwin Akaba(2),
(1) Editor-in-chief, African Journal of Reproductive Health (AJRH)
(2) Senior Lecturer and Consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria
Corresponding Author
Abstract
While women in all parts of the world experience induced abortion, it is in sub-Saharan Africa that abortion exerts its most deleterious negative consequences for human health and social development. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 520 per 100,000 women die from unsafe abortion in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to 220/100,000 in other lower income countries, and only 30/100,000 in high-income countries1. The WHO has re-defined safe abortion as “abortion in countries where abortion law is not restrictive (i.e. abortion is legally permitted for social or economic reasons, or without specification as to reason) or in countries in which, despite formal law, safe abortion is broadly available”2,3. In contrast, unsafe abortion was defined as “abortions performed by people lacking the necessary skills or using hazardous techniques, and/or in an environment that does not meet the minimal standards”2,3.
References
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Ganatra B, Gerts C, Rossier C and Brooke RJ. Global, regional, and subregional classification of abortions by safety, 2010-14: estimates from a Bayesian hierarchical model. Lancet Sep 2017.
Gebremedhim M, Semahegu A, Usmael T and Tegfaye G.
Unsafe abortion and associated factors among reproductive aged women in sub-Saharan Africa: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis. Systematic Reviews7, 130 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-018-0775-9.
World Health Organization. Clinical practice handbook for safe abortion. https://www.who.int.
Loi UR, Genzel-Danielson K, Faxelid E and Klingberg-Allvin M. Health care providers’ perceptions and attitudes towards induced abortion in sub-Saharan African and South-east Asia: A systematic literature review of qualitative and quantitative data. BMC Public Health 2015, 15:139. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-1502-2.
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Making
abortion safe – RCOG’s global initiative to advocate for women’s health. Available at: https://www.rcog.org.uk/global-network.
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