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: IRIN
Last year, an estimated two million women around the world developed breast cancer or cancer of the cervix (the neck of the womb); more than 600,000 died – the equivalent of six large passenger planes crashing every single day.
Source: Sunday Times
US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, has hailed Rwanda's strides in fighting HIV/AIDS and decreasing the rates of cervical cancer in the country, as well as its measures against malaria.
Source:UN News Centre
Youngsters in Guinea-Bissau will receive comprehensive sexual education in primary and secondary schools thanks to a United Nations workshop to support efforts by the small West African country’s education ministry.
Source: IRIN News
Most Somali women fleeing to northeastern Kenya's Dadaab in northeastern Kenya have never visited an antenatal clinic, let alone given birth in a hospital.
Source: TrustLaw
Health and education disparities between boys and girls in developing countries tend not to emerge until adolescence, when girls face increased risks of child marriage, HIV/AIDS infection and domestic violence, according to a report from the United Nations’ children’s agency.
Source: Daily Monitor
The United States and British governments have launched a four-year Shs213.5 billion project to increase the use of contraceptive services among Ugandans.
Source: The Citizen
Many tourists visit Tanzania to experience Zanzibar, climb Kilimanjaro, or visit the famous national parks. Tanzania is blessed with a beautiful landscape, friendly and obliging people, and interesting flora and fauna. But the social reality and way of living of some of this country's poorest is a far cry from the glamour of the tourist industry.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
George W. Bush is making the first major foray of his post presidency into global health, with a partnership to combat cervical and breast cancer in the developing world.
Source:All Africa
Concerned about the high number of women being infected with HIV compared to men, the government has, for the first time in 12 years since HIV was declared a national disaster, launched an aggressive action plan that will see massive resources allocated to programmes targeting women.
Source: IPS
Each day, one thousand women die in childbirth and one million people become infected with sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including 7,000 cases of HIV. Yet these numbers are preventable, experts insist, when countries possess the resources and willpower to address and deal with them.
Freetown — In its new report, At a Crossroads: Sierra Leone's Free Health Care Policy, officially launched on Tuesday September 6, Amnesty International has revealed that pregnant women and girls in Sierra Leone continue to face serious