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: Daily News
TO abort or not to abort? That was the question that lingered in Joyce Lazarus’ mind after she discovered that she was pregnant at 16 and about to write her Form Two examinations seven years ago.
Source: US News
It's the middle of sex education class in Zola Business High School and 90 teenage boys and girls are laughing and talking through a presentation about birth control, condoms and HIV.
Source: The Observer
Namono still feels uncomfortable mentioning her daughter’s name; her daughter, Helen, died three years ago after an attempted abortion went wrong and took her life.
Source: HuffPost Women
In Yoruba culture, pregnant women and mothers are celebrated in a concept that I hold dear to my heart - Alaafia Abiyamo. Alaafia Abiyamo is a belief that motherhood transcends the physical process and is a transformative pre-gestational, social, prenatal, postnatal, spiritual, and community role.
Source: Inter Press Service
When Lebogang Brenda Motsumi was 16 years old she fell pregnant, terrified about what her life would look like, she went to a backdoor clinic for an abortion.
Source: IPS News
UNITED NATIONS, May 26 2016 (IPS) - The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which has played a key role in ensuring maternal health and promoting reproductive rights of millions of women world-wide, is expected to suffer over $140 million in funding cuts by Western donors this year.
Source: Medical Daily
Text messages have revolutionized the way we interact with each other — and the way we receive and practice health care may be next.
Source:The New Times (Kigali)
Female sex workers, being among the highest risk groups for contracting HIV, are priority segment of the population in the ongoing national efforts to fight the virus.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Female genital mutilation (FGM) will never end until men also throw their weight behind efforts to eradicate the potentially deadly practice, says Nigerian law student and anti-FGM activist Kelechukwu Nwachukwu.
INTERNATIONAL: New WHO Guidelines to Improve Care for Millions Living with Female Genital Mutilation
Source: World Health Organisation
New WHO recommendations aim to help health workers provide better care to the more than 200 million girls and women worldwide living with female genital mutilation.
Source: Thomson Reuters
Dakar — Investing in an "army of midwives" across Nigeria will cut the number of stillbirths and women dying during or after giving birth, a leading women's rights activist said ahead of the West African nation's first global conference on midwifery.