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: Amnesty International
More than a year after the launch of the Free Health Care Initiative, pregnant women and girls in Sierra Leone continue to face serious challenges in accessing the drugs and medical care crucial for safe pregnancy and childbirth, Amnesty International said today.
Source: All Africa
Fifty out of every 100,000 Kenyan women die of cervical cancer each year because of lack of finances and proper sensitisation. In US, only two women die from cervical cancer in a year.
Source: All Africa
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) says the use of the female condom will boost the reproductive health of women.
Source: The Citizen
Ms Marguerite Kassa feared she would find herself alone in the small crowd of a dozen other pregnant women at the integrated health centre in Mossendjo, in the south-western Republic of Congo.
Source: Plus News
While most pregnant women in Zambia are now tested for HIV, other sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis are not being diagnosed, placing the lives of thousands of women at risk.
Source: Champion
No fewer than 150,000 women in the South East have benefited from the campaign launched by an NGO, Umu Ada Igbo, to sensitise women on reproductive health and reproductive rights.
Source: Leadership
Female condoms are yet to gain acceptance from women in the country. Several fact-finding studies have shown just what is responsible for this. WINIFRED OGBEBO reports.
Source: All Africa
Interview: Dr. Muhammadu Mai, General Manager, FCT Hospitals Management Board, Abuja, speaks with Victoria Awom and Judd Leonard-Okafor on factors responsible for the antenatal woes of pregnant women in the FCT,
Source: All Africa
A poor and HIV-positive South African may well hear advice about "living positively" with HIV, but this is guidance that many find impossible to follow.
Source: The Standard
There is nothing as painful as watching a child withering away with an illness which could have been easily avoided. But pregnant mothers still deny their children the right to live a healthy life by refusing to get tested for HIV and Aids early.
Three years ago, Munit* was hungry, lonely and HIV-positive; her husband refused to be tested and she felt burdened by her secret status, unable to share her daily struggles with friends and family.