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: Capital FM (Nairobi)
Nairobi — Even with a nurses' strike looming in the horizon, expectant mothers will most likely describe President Uhuru Kenyatta's first one hundred days in office as success.
Source: New Democrat (Monrovia)
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Thursday disclosed that the rate of maternal mortality in the country is still high despite a five percent decrease. Maternal death, or maternal mortality, also "obstetrical death" is the death of a woman during or shortly after a pregnancy.
Source: New Security Beat
“The places in the world where the environment is most fragile, women’s health is most fragile,” said Leila Darabi, director of global communications for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, at the Wilson Center.
Charity Salima, 54, has helped to deliver over 4,000 babies in her maternity clinic in Area 23 – one of Malawi’s poorest and most populous townships – and has yet to record a single pregnancy-related death.
Source: Trust
NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Kenya’s dire maternal death rate may finally fall thanks to the introduction last month of free maternity services for women, with some hospitals reporting a 50 percent increase in deliveries.
Source: New Vision
The African Union came up with 2010-2020 the African Women’s Decade and one of the themes is aiming at promoting maternal health. And the purpose is to help in promoting the reproductive rights of women and creating awareness on maternal health.
Source: AllAfrica
Zanzibar — THE Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Mr Ali Juma Shamuhuna, has said that 18 adolescent pregnancies were recorded in Zanzibar schools last year (2012/13).
Source: Alert Net
Nairobi — Kenya's dire maternal death rate may finally fall thanks to the introduction last month of free maternity services for women, with some hospitals reporting a 50 percent increase in deliveries.
Source: Women's WorldWideWeb
Maternal mortality is, even in the 21st century, one of the world’s major health threats: every 24 hours, approximately 800 women die as a result of (often entirely treatable) complications related to pregnancy and childbirth.
In Kenya, 82 percent of midwives correctly diagnose their patient's condition but only 28 percent give the full treatment required, the World Bank said on Friday, highlighting the challenge of reducing maternal deaths in the country despite the introduction of free maternal health services last month.