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.
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Source: IBTIMES
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the worst place to be a mother, according to a report by Save the Children.
DRC, which was also ranked by the UN as the worst place to be a woman in 2013, has been ravaged by war for nearly 20 years, and the effects are clearly evident in the plight of the country's female population.
Source: AWID
The declaration, released in Washington on Wednesday, comes in the context of a 20-year review by the United Nations of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo. That landmark conference called for safe access to abortions in countries where the procedure was legal, while Wednesday's declaration calls for the
Source: Daily Trust
Experts in maternal health continue to push for statutory review of deaths in pregnant women and mothers in efforts to account for the life of every mother, but insist political will is lacking.
Source: PR Newswire
PRESS RELEASE
Worldwide — International Effort Includes Globe-athon "STEPtember" Pledge to take 10,000 steps a Day for Gynecological Cancer Awareness
Source: OSISA
In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe ruled today that the State was liable for failing to provide a rape survivor with emergency contraception and ordered the government to pay damages.
Source: IRIN
OUAGADOUGOU- One-third of all pregnancies in Burkina Faso are unintended and a third of them end in abortion, according to a study published this month by the University of Ouagadougou and the reproductive health think tank Guttmacher Institute,
Source: Tanzania Daily News
WOMEN were on Wednesday advised to regularly check on their health as this will lead to early detection of diseases such as cervical cancer, breast cancer and any other kind of disease as the old saying goes: "Prevention is better than cure."
Source: The Star
Boda boda riders and fishermen in Usigu division of Bondo subcounty are to blame for increased cases of pregnancies among schoolgirls and school dropout in the area, an official has said.
Source: Sabahi
Nairobi — Doctors at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi have successfully used Lopinavir, a drug used to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), to treat 40 women with cervical cancer, a clinical trial released March 6th showed.
Source: Gender Links
Speaking at CSW58, Dr. Nicholas Alipui, Director of Programmes of UNICEF explains how child marriage contributes to gender inequality and puts girls' health and lives at risk.
Source: Heritage
The Minister of Gender and Development, Julia Duncan Cassell, has said global efforts to ensure universal access to reproductive health by 2015 are facing challenges worldwide.