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: Alaska Dispatch
Margaret Hans, 25, shuffles to the door of her simple but immaculate two-room township home. Thin with drawn facial features, she is still weak from tuberculosis — the all-too-familiar scourge that piggy-backs on the South African HIV epidemic.
Source: Health 24
In response to the virtual removal of the right to family planning services from the agenda of Rio+20 negotiators, a high-profile group of former presidents and prime ministers, and leaders in global health and philanthropy today encouraged negotiators at the Rio+20 sustainability conference to stand up to the Vatican’s efforts to block reproductive health services as a fundamental strategy for attaining the goals of sustainable development.
Source: Health-e
With maternal health being one of the priority areas for health improvement, it’s important for primary health care facilities to improve care for pregnant mothers. The Witkoppen Health and Welfare Centre in Fourways, north of Johannesburg, says it’s trying to improve on these health indicators.
A petition backed by over 50 NGOs and charging Uganda's government with failing to prevent the deaths of expectant mothers was thrown out by the constitutional court on 5 June, but the petition’s supporters plan to appeal.
Source: Gavi
US Secretary of State tells opening session of Child Survival Call to Action meeting that preventable child deaths can be ended in two decades.
Source: New Vision
Uganda spends sh7.5bn each year treating complications resulting from unsafe abortion, a new study reveals.
Source: Boston.com
More than 100 women die during childbirth each week in Uganda, a heartbreaking statistic that has energized activists to go to the Supreme Court in a bid to force the government to put more resources toward maternal health care to prevent the wave of deaths.
Source: AllAfrica
Mr Bekele Geleta, Secretary General and Madame Goli Ameri, Undersecretary General, Humanitarian Values and Diplomacy, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Source: News24
An abortion takes place every 10 minutes at Eastern Cape clinics, according to a report on Tuesday.
Pregnant schoolgirls, some as young as 12-years-old, were putting a strain on the Eastern Cape abortion clinics, The Times reported.
Source: Radio VOP
Zimbabwean celebrity and HIV/AIDS activist, Tendayi Westerhof, has pioneered the formation of a continental movement of women living with HIV as African countries continue to battle the deadly scourge, which is killing thousands daily.
Source: AllAfrica
Malawi, one of Africa's poorest nations, has made significant progress in improving the survival of newborns and is on track to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goal number four - to reduce the deaths of children up to the age of five by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015.