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African journalists discuss women’s reproductive health and rights

African journalists discuss women’s reproductive health and rights

Nairobi, March 8 (SLENA) – Media practitioners from eight African countries – Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Ugandan and Zambia were at the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya to share recent issues in addressing unsafe abortion in Africa and strengthen skills on how to report abortion during the upcoming policy moments at global, regional and national levels, Abibatu Kamara reports from Nairobi.

The two day workshop – 4th to 5th March was organised by Ipas Africa Alliance and brought together journalists who cover reproductive health issues.

According to statistics made available, up to 40% of maternal deaths in Africa are as a result of unsafe abortions, despite the commitments by African governments in various regional and international commitments to address this preventable tragedy.

In a report put together by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Reproductive and Child Health Care and Ipas Sierra Leone office on unsafe Abortion, it reveals that unsafe abortion is a major contributing factor to maternal and pregnancy-related injuries and deaths in Sierra Leone.

The 1816 Offences against Persons cap 58 criminalises abortion which leads to unsafe abortion.

Around the world, an estimated 13% of all maternal deaths result from unsafe abortion. The Reproductive Health Annual Report 2011 revealed that 10% of maternal deaths in Sierra Leone were due to unsafe abortion.

Every year, thousands of women in Sierra Leone seek treatment for complications from unsafe abortions performed outside health facilities while government spends an estimated $230,000 to treat women with abortion complications in public hospitals.

Ipas Senior Policy Advisor NaisolaLikimani, in her presentation on the Magnitude of Unsafe Abortion in Africa, says 29,000 women and girls die from unsafe abortion every year in Africa and 40% of maternal deaths in some countries are due to unsafe abortion.

She said worldwide 40 million women die from unsafe abortion in 2008 and that 6.2 million of these deaths are in Africa.

Likimani said that women seek abortion because of personal reasons, health reasons, cultural reasons and relationships, among others.

Major causes of  unsafe abortion,  she said,  is as a result of low access to Family Planning, unintended pregnancy, poverty and the high cost of safe abortion and lack of access to abortion services.

Further,  she said in Africa governments spend an estimated $171 million (one hundred and seventy-one Million United States Dollars) to treat cases of unsafe abortion, adding that Sub-Saharan countries spend an estimated $120 M (one Hundred and twenty United States Dollars) for post abortion treatment.

A Media Trainer, DrEduardo Namburete, said the lack of reporting and debate has created a long lasting controversy over this issue, noting that communicating sexual reproductive health and unsafe abortion is a challenge, not only for advocates of sexual reproductive health rights, but also for media practitioners.

He said reporting on such a sensitive issue cannot be improvised; it requires professionalism, humanity and respect for balanced accurate information the public.

Participating journalists gave brief statistics about unsafe abortion in their respective countries and the statistics seemed alarming.

AK/Nairobi/SLENA

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