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: CBS News
Namibia's Supreme Court upheld a ruling that health workers sterilized HIV-positive women without their consent, a human rights group said Monday.
Source: UN Women
To ensure that the needs of women and girls are addressed within the UN's overall response to the devastating Ebola Virus Disease, the United Nations Country Team in Sierra Leone launched an Ebola Gender Mainstreaming Strategy in early October.
Source: Sudan Tribune
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has reaffirmed its commitment to a partnership with Amref Health Africa to improve the health of women and children in Africa.
Source: Punch
The United Nations Population Fund has said that 110 Nigerian women die daily from pregnancy or childbirth related complications.
Source: The Guardian
Last weekend Quarraisha Abdool Karim, one of South Africa's top HIV researchers, became the first woman to receive a US$100,000 (£62,000) prize for developing world scientists.
Source: Aljazeera
Shoana Solomon, fed up of discrimination, tells Al Jazeera the story behind their viral social media campaign.
Source: The New American
Under the guise of advancing what the United Nations calls "gender equality" and "sustainable development," a new report by the UN Women agency is again pushing global abortion on demand, more sterilization programs and population-control schemes, massive government interference in family life, and much more.
Source: NAM AIDS Map
While international rhetoric on HIV and AIDS frequently invokes human rights, putting these ideas into practice in specific settings remains challenging, according to a process evaluation of an intervention in rural South Africa published in the October issue of Culture, Health and Sexuality.
Source: MMM-Online
After my own harrowing experience whilst giving birth in Nigeria, I dedicated my life to maternal, newborn and child health.
Source: Medical Press
The incidence of HIV infection in South Africa tops that of any nation in the world, with some 6 million of the country's nearly 50 million residents infected.
Source: African News
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) on Thursday expressed its commitment to a partnership with Amref Health Africa, a Kenya-based NGO, to improve the health of women and children in Africa.