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: News 24
Johannesburg — Primary school girls would be immunised this year against the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) that causes cervical cancer, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.
Source: allafrica
The first year of the Saving Mothers Giving Life initiative meant to reduce maternal mortality saw pregnancy-related deaths cut by a third, according to a report released January 9.
Saving Mothers' first annual report, Making Pregnancy and Childbirth Safe in Uganda and Zambia details outcomes from the first year of the five-year initiative which began in June 2012. It demonstrates that there is a 30 per cent decrease in maternal mortality in the target districts of Kabarole, Kibaale, Kamwenge, and Kyenjojo in Uganda and 35 percent in four of Zambia's districts.
This initiative is led by the U.S Global Health Initiative (GHI), in partnership with Merck for Mothers, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Every Mother Counts, Project C.U.R.E. and the Government of Norway. The U.S. committed $75m to this partnership.
"Uganda has not only seen a 30 per cent reduction in maternal mortality in the four districts participating in the programme, but has also registered a 28 per cent increase in the number of women who received prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/Aids services, said Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, Director General of Health Services during the report launch in Washington, D.C.
Pregnant women at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ebute-Metta, Lagos, yesterday called for a review of a policy by which the hospital attends to only 20 women for ante-natal clinic. Some of the women, who spoke with newsmen in Lagos, appealed to the management to reconsider their stand on the policy, insisting that it was an unfair practice to pregnant women. The clinic holds only on Mondays.
Source: Newvision
The number of mothers dying in pregnancy and during childbirth has declined in the last one year in 8 districts that are piloting a US-supported initiative providing emergency obstetric and newborn care.
Source: Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)
AS one searcher for the 2013 One Africa Award winner, it is true that the region is celebrating the incredible and ingenious organisations that have been finalists in the past.
Source: The Star
FORMER Prime Minister's wife, Ida Odinga has asked expectant mothers in Nyanza region deliver their babies in health facilities. She said this will reverse the high infant and maternal mortalities.
FIRST Lady Christine Kaseba has called for integration of sexual reproductive health issues and cancer into the fight against HIV and AIDS if the fight is to achieve the desired results.
Source:The Observer (Kampala)
The minister of state for Primary Healthcare, Sarah Opendi, has called for increased emphasis on family planning to prevent the consequences of unwanted pregnancies.
Source: Trust
Patrolling the wards of the hospital she founded in the breakaway enclave of Somaliland, Edna Adan Ismail held the hand of a teenage girl about to have a fistula repair operation, urging her to be brave.
Source: East African Business Week
Uganda last week launched a major national drive to end maternal and child deaths across the country.As part of the global 'Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed' movement, the Vice President Edward Ssekandi, unveiled a sharpened plan that aims to prevent an additional 40 per cent of Under 5 deaths and 26 per cent of maternal deaths by 2017.
Source: The Star
Beatrice Khalayi Shibunga is a community health worker and family planning champion, working in the slums of Korogocho in Nairobi. She goes door-to-door to offer women in her community family planning information. In her work experience, she has met women who use contraceptives but without the knowledge or consent of their husbands.