The maternal mortality ratio is unacceptably high in Africa. Forty per cent of all pregnancy-related deaths worldwide occur in Africa. On average, over 7 women die per 1,000 live births. About 22,000 African women die each year from unsafe abortion, reflecting a high unmet need for contraception. Contraceptive use among women in union varies from 50 per cent in the southern sub-region to less than 10 per cent in middle and western Africa" UNFPA
Early and unwanted childbearing, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and pregnancy-related illnesses and deaths account for a significant proportion of the burden of illness experienced by women in Africa. Gender-based violence is an influential factor negatively impacting on the sexual and reproductive health of one in every three women. Many are unable to control decisions to have sex or to negotiate safer sexual practices, placing them at great risk of disease and health complications.
According to UNAIDS, there is an estimated of 22.2 million people living with HIV in Sub-Saharan African in 2009, which represents 68% of the global HIV burden. Women are at higher risk than men to be infected by HIV, their vulnerability remains particulary high in the Sub-Saharan Africa and 76% of all HIV women in the world live in this region.
In almost all countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, the majority of people living with HIV are women, especially girls and women aged between 15-24. Not only are women more likely to become infected, they are more severely affected. Their income is likely to fall if an adult man loses his job and dies. Since formal support to women are very limited, they may have to give up some income-genrating activities or sacrifice school to take care of the sick relatives.
For more information on HIV/AIDS and Reproductive health, please visit the following websites:
Source: The New Times
The month of October is universally recognised as the breast cancer awareness month, and rightly so - one in eight women will get breast cancer in her lifetime. When I think of what that means regarding the women in my life, I am shaken (Breast cancer is the 29th cause of deaths in Rwanda).
AFRICA: 2012 Annual Women Parliamentarians Conference: African Parliamentarians Meet to Improve MNCH
Hundreds of African women decision-makers gathered at the Pan-African Parliament’s (PAP) Annual Women Parliamentarians Conference, held under the theme “The Role of Parliamentarians in Promoting Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in Africa”.
Source: RNW
Morocco has escorted the Dutch abortion boat out of its territorial waters. The Dutch activists had sailed to the port of Smir to raise awareness about abortion, a practice which is illegal in the North African country.
Source: Think Africa Press
Through self-help groups, HIV-positive women in Nairobi's Korogocho slums are rejecting the stigma associated with the disease and supporting themselves.
Source: Africa News
Malawi has to repeal some of laws, policies and practices that are infringing Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHRs) of citizens including some groups that are vulnerable to HIV and AIDS infections. Yes! If there is one of Malawi's successful stories in HIV and AIDS fight then is the reduction of the number of People Living With HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) in the over 13 million plus population due to some strategies in the fight against the pandemic in place.
Source: The Washington Post
Moroccan police Thursday escorted from its waters a small yacht carrying women’s rights activists claiming to be able to perform abortions on board, after anti-abortion protesters jeered them on land.
Tanzania has made significant advances in cutting maternal deaths thanks to a United Nations-sponsored programme that brings public and private sectors together to resolve one of the most stubborn but preventable woes afflicting the developing world, top officials said today.
Family planning advocates in Uganda have scored some major financial and policy wins this year, but experts remain concerned that inadequate political commitment and poor health services will continue to impede women’s and girls’ access to contraceptives.
A year ago, when Peggy*, 23, became pregnant, her boyfriend abandoned her. Unemployed and already a single mother, she decided to terminate the pregnancy - and she nearly died in the process.
Source: Huffington Post
The good news is that Tanzania, helped by Bloomberg Philanthropies, has launched an innovative program to prevent mothers from dying in child birth. The bad news is that 23 women still die every day from birth-related complications.
Source: RNW
The 'abortion boat' is setting sail for the Arab world for the first time. Dutch organisation Women on Waves is launching a campaign in Morocco this week, in cooperation with local youth group M.A.L.I.