A local Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), SAVE-Ghana has urged the public to put an end to the stigmatisation of women who seek safe abortion services.<\/p>\n
The NGO said stigmatising them was a major contributory factor to the high rate of unsafe abortions and its associated consequences, especially in developing countries.<\/p>\n
Mr. Sule Dintie, the Executive Director of SAVE-Ghana, made the call at a programme at Tumu, in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region, to mark the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe Legal Abortion.<\/p>\n
He challenged people to address the issues that caused women to seek abortion rather than stigmatising them.<\/p>\n
Mr. Dintie said, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), nearly 42 million women who face the challenges of unintended pregnancies annually have abortions, out of which 20 million are unsafe.<\/p>\n
These are mostly from developing countries, especially in countries where abortion was illegal, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn developed regions, nearly 92 per cent of abortions are safe whereas in developing countries like Ghana, 55 per cent are unsafe,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
Mr Dintie said unsafe abortions accounted for 13 per cent of global maternal mortality and it was responsible for one in eight maternal deaths globally.<\/p>\n
He said that maternal mortality was the second most common cause of death among women in Ghana, while more than one in 10 maternal deaths was the result of unsafe abortions.<\/p>\n
Mr. Dintie expressed worry that women faced a lot of challenges, including the cost of abortion and transportation to health centres and the criminalisation of abortion by PNDC Law 102 (1985).<\/p>\n
The Law, however, excludes pregnancies resulting from rape, defilement, incest and threatening the health of mother and child.<\/p>\n
He said health facilities offering Comprehensive Abortion Care (CAC) were inadequate, especially in rural areas, and as a result there was a great mismatch between the number of abortion seekers and certified providers.<\/p>\n
He commended the Government\u2019s effort at reducing maternal mortality through the Free Maternal Health Policy among others interventions.<\/p>\n
However, he said, the sad reality was that many women were still dying on daily basis.<\/p>\n
Madam Rudkin Baigne, the Sissala East District Public Health Nurse, recounted the dangers of unsafe abortion, including excessive bleeding, perforation of the uterus, infertility, infections, death, depression, and fistula.<\/p>\n
Mr. Johnson Saborh, the Sissala East District Chief Executive (DCE), mentioned vulnerability, irresponsible parenting, health reasons, economic hardships and socio-cultural reasons as some of the underlying causes of illegal abortion.<\/p>\n
He said if all understood and appreciated these causes, then they would understand the need to stop stigmatising those who sought safe abortion.<\/p>\n
The DCE said the Government through the District Assembly had constructed 28 Community-based Health Planning and Services compounds, rehabilitated the Wellembelle Health Centre and constructed a modern theatre, which would be converted into a Polyclinic in the future.<\/p>\n
The theme for the occasion was: \u201cStop Abortion Stigma and Gender Stereotyping, Step into our Stories\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: GNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A local Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), SAVE-Ghana has urged the public to put an end to the stigmatisation of women who seek safe abortion services. The NGO said stigmatising them was a major contributory factor to the high rate of unsafe abortions and its associated consequences, especially in developing countries. Mr. Sule Dintie, the Executive Director […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":254781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19],"tags":[12283,3,12284,2060],"yoast_head":"\n