FG pledges action on unsafe abortion to cut maternal deaths

The Federal Government has reaffirmed its committedness to tackling unsafe termination to trim maternal mortality and amended the wellness and well-being of women and girls crossed Nigeria.

Dr Binyerem Ukaire, Director of Family Health astatine the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, gave the assurance connected Tuesday successful Abuja during the International Safe Abortion Conference.

The conference, organised by Ipas Nigeria Health Foundation, was themed “Reproductive Justice: Crashing Maternal Mortality done Reduced Unsafe Abortions” to people International Safe Abortion Day, globally observed connected Sept. 28.

Ukaire, represented by Dr Robert Daniel of the Department of Family Health, said unsafe termination remains a highly preventable origin of maternal death, yet it continues to assertion galore lives successful Nigeria.

Citing the World Health Organisation (WHO), she defined unsafe termination arsenic termination of gestation by unqualified individuals oregon successful environments that failed to conscionable minimum acceptable aesculapian standards.

“Nigeria has 1 of the highest maternal mortality ratios globally, and unsafe termination continues to lend significantly,” Ukaire said.

She cited probe indicating 456,000 unsafe abortions occurred successful Nigeria yearly.

“Globally, 121 cardinal unintended pregnancies hap annually, and 60 per cent of them extremity successful abortion.”

She noted that 1 successful each 2 abortions worldwide was unsafe, exposing women to superior wellness complications, semipermanent damage, and adjacent death, particularly successful underserved oregon agrarian areas.

She explained that women who were poor, uneducated, oregon surviving successful agrarian areas were peculiarly susceptible owed to constricted entree to contraceptives and prime reproductive wellness services.

Ukaire emphasised that astir each deaths and complications from unsafe termination could beryllium avoided done contraceptive access, ineligible harmless termination services, and post-abortion care.

She added that the Federal Government was moving with partners to bid healthcare providers to present prime post-abortion attraction and supported women successful request of specified services.

She said the ministry had trained skilled commencement attendants and improved abortion-related information reporting done the National Health Management Information System (NHMIS), successful spite of ineligible restrictions and societal stigma.

Delivering the keynote, Dr Talemoh Dah, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, said termination should beryllium recognised arsenic a critical, life-saving wellness intervention, not conscionable a societal oregon motivation issue.

“Abortion has go a societal controversy, adjacent though its information is well-established,” Dah said, highlighting misinformation and stigma that prevented galore women from accessing harmless care.

He said 45 per cent of planetary abortions were unsafe, with 75 per cent of those happening successful low- and middle-income countries, including galore crossed Africa.

Dah explained that astir fractional of Africa’s unsafe abortions occurred nether the slightest harmless conditions, contributing to astir 30 per cent of maternal deaths crossed the continent.

He noted that an estimated 2.4 cardinal induced abortions occurred successful Nigeria each year, equivalent to astir 26 for each 1,000 women of reproductive age.

“Unsafe termination causes astir 10 per cent of maternal deaths successful Nigeria, wherever maternal mortality remains precocious astatine 1,047 deaths per 100,000 unrecorded births,” helium said.

He stressed that 1 successful each 22 Nigerian women faced a beingness hazard of dying from pregnancy-related causes, compared to 1 successful 4,900 successful developed countries.

Dah added that successful Nigeria, a pistillate dies from maternal causes each 7 minutes, a shocking statistic reflecting the urgent request for wellness strategy reforms.

He identified stigma, ineligible barriers, unaffordable services, and mediocre wellness infrastructure arsenic cardinal challenges contributing to unsafe abortions and maternal deaths.

Also speaking, Dr Lucky Palmer, Country Director of Ipas Nigeria, described unsafe termination arsenic a large origin of preventable maternal deaths successful Nigeria and different processing countries.

“In galore communities, termination is inactive treated with secrecy, stigma, and shame,” Palmer said, urging a displacement successful nationalist attitudes and argumentation frameworks.

He noted that for much than 25 years, Ipas had worked to region those barriers by documenting real-lif...