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: IPS
Goma — "Many hospitals and health centres" that are not run by NGOs "do not meet health standards," according to Dominique Baabo, provincial medical inspector for North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Source: Vanguard
RIVERS State has the highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS with a total of 145,236 adults and 15,000 children affected.
Priscillia Shu, Co-ordinator, Rhema Care Integrated Development Centre stated this when the HIV/AIDS awareness center facilitated a sensitisation programme among staff of the Rivers State Ministry of Culture and Tourism .
Source: GAVI Alliance
Addressing the "To the Point" Plenary, GAVI CEO Dr Seth Berkley explained why vaccination today ensures young girls grow into healthy and fulfilled women tomorrow. Here's a quick guide to the key excerpts.
Source: Health-e
Leading health philanthropist Melinda Gates has appealed to the world to make family planning a top priority and appealed to the 3 000 delegates at the 3rd Women Deliver meeting to help millions of women make their voices heard.
Source: Malawi News Agency (Lilongwe)
Salima — Senior chiefs and traditional authorities in Salima have formed a safe motherhood forum in an effort to champion safe motherhood at district level.
The forum has been organised with Support from Maikhanda, a local non-governmental organisation implementing safe motherhood activities in the district.
Source: eLearning Africa (Berlin)
IMPACtt trials in Tanzania
Skilled human resources are the backbone of any performing health system. But many developing countries face a human resource crisis due to health workforce shortages, brain drain and lack of adequate training.
Source: Global Health Strategies (New York)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 28 May 2013 — Today, more than 4,000 global leaders and advocates from nearly 150 countries gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for Women Deliver 2013, the largest conference of the decade focused on the health and wellbeing of girls and women.
Source: Guttmacher Institute
Each year, an estimated 287,000 women worldwide die from pregnancy-related causes, and approximately three million newborns do not survive past the first 28 days of life. The majority of these deaths occur in developing countries at or around the time of delivery, and result from treatable conditions that could be prevented with adequate care.
Source: The News
Last week, Liberia joined the world to celebrate the first International Day to End Obstetric fistula with the Executive Director of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) revealing that more than 50,000 new cases of fistula develop each year.
Source: Times of Zambia
MANY, if not most, readers are familiar with malaria. It is one of those diseases the general populace takes for granted, not least of all because it is a disease of antiquity.
The day is long past when malaria took the light of day out of many Zambians to a point where it is slowly but surely becoming a neglected,