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: UNAIDS
Maternal deaths have decreased by 45% since 1990 according to a new report released on 6 May by the Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group. Entitled Trends in maternal mortality: 1990 to 2013, the report estimates that 289 000 women died in 2013 owing to complications in pregnancy and childbirth, down from 523 000 in 1990.
Source: Heritage
A Certified Midwife assigned at the Boegeesay Health Center in Rivercess County has alarmed over the numerous challenges confronting the medical facility.
Source: IIP Digital
DOCUMENT
Remarks by Anne C. Richard, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
Let me start by thanking you for organizing this event.
And thank you for preparing this video. It is inspiring to see how enlightened family planning policies can transform the lives of women like Mihret who was a child bride and young mother and is now proudly helping others make their own choices about when to bear children.
Source: The Star
There exists a very thin line between the joy of motherhood and childbirth complications. Dressed in a pink gown, 65-year-old Joyce Mumbi sits on a bed at Guru Nanak Hospital in Nairobi awaiting her turn to go to the theatre. She has lived with fistula for more than 30 years.
Source: Maghreb Arab Press
Casablanca — HRH Princess Lalla Salma, president of the Lalla Salma Foundation for Cancer Prevention and Treatment, inaugurated, on Monday in Casablanca, a reproductive health reference center for breast and uterine cancer early detection in the Mohammadi neighborhood.
Source: Tanzania Daily News
Karatu — Until recently, giving birth in the remote Mbulu-Mbulu Ward of Karatu District used to be nothing short of nightmare.
Source: Tanzania Daily News
MALE chauvinism can be traced as far back as humanity and despite efforts by various governments and civil society organisations to end the social anomaly, women continue being reduced to second-class citizens who have no say over matters concerning their lives.
Source: The Daily Observer
The 'Operation Save A Baby' initiative of the First Lady of the Republic, Her Excellency Zineb Yahya Jammeh has received cash donations from various institutions and staff of the Ministry of Trade, Integration and Employment, amounting to D53, 475. The monies were received Tuesday by the vice president and Women's Affairs minister, Her Excellency Aja Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy, on behalf of the beneficiary during ceremonies held at State House.
Source: KC Team
In Malawi, a new civil society charter to tackle HIV and TB is prioritising gender-based messages to help change people's behaviour.
Source: Times of Zambia
GOVERNMENT says it is disheartening to learn that maternal mortality cases are still high in Zambia, especially as a result of unsafe abortions.
Source: Tanzania Daily News
MATERNAL mortality and morbidity remain a critical global problem. In 2010, estimates suggests that globally there were 287,000 maternal deaths-- down from 543,000 in 1990.