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: The Point (Banjul)
The Gambia Immigration Department (GID), in collaboration with UNAIDS on Monday began a two-day training for immigration personnel on HIV transmission, prevention and control.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, held at the GID Headquarters in Banjul, Nuha Ceesay, UNAIDS' Country Officer,
Source: The Star
A pregnant women can transmit the damaging effects of stress to her unborn child through the placenta, say researchers.
The impact is felt by a protein that affects the developing brains of boys and girls differently.
Scientists believe it could explain known links between maternal stress and disorders such as autism and schizophrenia,
Source: Premium Times
The Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, has said that the maternal mortality rate in Nigeria dropped from 704 per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 487 per 100,000 live births in 2011.
Source: Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)
Domestic violence is a major cause of miscarriages, a problem that afflicts millions of women around the world, a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report has said.According to the report, up to 70 per cent of women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.
Source: Think Africa Press
A frail, pale and breathless woman was bleeding profusely during childbirth at the make-shift maternity ward of Primary Health Care (PHC) centre Dogon Dawa in Kaduna State, Nigeria.
Source: SciDev.Net
A large-scale trial to compare the effectiveness of oral tablets and vaginal gels for HIV prevention among young, unmarried African women has yielded disappointing results, a study reports.
Source: The Chronicle
Statistics from the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and other international organisations indicate that somewhere in Ghana, almost 60 women die each week from causes related to pregnancy and birth, while 2,700 women die each year from pregnancy or childbirth.
Source: Inkatha Freedom Party (Durban)
The South African HIV Clinicians Society reports that the current shortage of ARVs is forcing our doctors to share antiretroviral drugs among patients and sometimes prioritize patients who are at advanced stages of the disease over those who are stable. This puts those who are stable at greater risk of the virus advancing as they are not receiving regular medication.
Source: Leadership (Abuja)
Barely few months after a middle-aged woman delivered a baby with three legs in Katsina State, residents of Malumfashi local government area of the state were stunned yesterday as a 19-year-old housewife, Zainab Dahiru, was delivered a baby with two heads.
Source: The Chronicle
OFFICIAL REPORT from the Northern Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service has revealed that as many as 250 women have died during child birth, between January 2011 and December 2012.
Source: IRIN
Brazzaville — Indigenous women in the Republic of Congo, better known as pygmies - a minority group threatened with extinction - are virtually excluded from reproductive health services. They mostly give birth at home and are exposed to related health risks, according to a 2012 study conducted by the Ministry of Health with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).