Nigeria – Safe Abortion: Groups want Sanwo-Olu to reinstate suspended guideline

The campaigner said unsafe abortion in Nigeria constitutes 10 per cent of the global maternal death rate and stands as the country’s second leading cause of maternal mortality.

By Mariam Ileyemi
February 26, 2024

Women groups and representatives of civil society organisations led by the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) have appealed to the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to reinstate the suspended guidelines on safe termination of pregnancy.

The groups in a webinar on Monday said the guidelines are important to make provision for termination of pregnancy in cases of incest, rape, and sexual and gender-based violence.

Continued: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/672011-safe-abortion-groups-want-sanwo-olu-to-reinstate-suspended-guideline.html

Local groups in Nigeria lead the way for inclusive abortion care

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024
Ipas

In Nigeria, getting a safe abortion is already an uphill battle. But for women with disabilities, it can be nearly impossible. With support from the Ipas Collaborative Fund, the locally based SAIF Advocacy Foundation is paving the way to ensure that everyone, regardless of ability, can access the quality abortion care they have a right to.

Abortion is only legal in Nigeria to save a woman’s life, and factors like stigma, cost, and lack of trained health providers make it difficult for women to access abortion even when their lives are at risk. Not surprisingly, many people resort to abortion with unsafe methods. Some die, and many suffer injuries. Ipas has long worked in Nigeria to ensure that high-quality treatment for complications of unsafe abortion (often called postabortion care) is widely available, but barriers remain.

Continued: https://www.ipas.org/news/local-groups-in-nigeria-lead-the-way-for-inclusive-abortion-care/

Nigeria – Unsafe abortion fueling female infertility, maternal deaths, say gynaecologists

6th February 2024
By Janet Ogundepo

Maternal health experts have attributed the low contraceptive prevalence rate in the country to an increase in unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions.

In separate exclusive interviews with PUNCH Healthwise, they cautioned that the continuous rise in unsafe abortion would lead to increased cases of infertility and maternal deaths. Already, Nigeria has a maternal mortality rate of 1,047 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the World Health Organisation.

Continued: https://punchng.com/unsafe-abortion-fueling-female-infertility-maternal-deaths-say-gynaecologists/

Between law and sexual rights in Nigeria

Is extant legal framework protecting the sexual and reproductive rights of the Nigerian woman? YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE in this piece explore factors that answer the concerns on the attainment of reproductive health rights, lack of specific legislation, and the seeming unwillingness to domesticate international protocols that Nigeria co-signed.

by Yejide Gbenga-Ogundare
January 31, 2024

The issue of reproductive and sexual health rights has not always been an open discussion in the African society, repressed mainly by cultural beliefs, including in Nigeria, despite the prevalence of maternal mortality and morbidity. According to statistics in the OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development, every day, Nigeria loses 145 women of childbearing age from complications of child birth leading to more focus on health issues and the right to health. But while the right to health has been recognised globally since reproductive health rights gained formal acceptance in 1993, the need for women to have access to quality reproductive health services such as medical care, planned family, safe pregnancy, delivery care and treatment and prevention of sexually-transmitted infections, while gaining recognition, cannot be said to have been given its due pride of place.

Continued: https://tribuneonlineng.com/between-law-and-s3xual-rights-in-nigeria/

Abortion Pills Are Being Widely Used In Nigeria: Women And Suppliers Talk About Their Experiences

1/18/2024
Akanni Ibukun Akinyemi

(MENAFN- The Conversation) Unintended pregnancy is common among women of reproductive age in Nigeria and a substantial number end in abortion. Annually between 2015 and 2019 , almost three million pregnancies were unintended. Forty eight per cent ended in abortion.

Many of these abortions are unsafe and some result in serious maternal morbidity or death . The main reason for this is that termination is only allowed legally in Nigeria if a woman's life is in danger. This drives women to obtain abortions clandestinely through unqualified providers using inappropriate methods.

Continued: https://menafn.com/1107740822/Abortion-Pills-Are-Being-Widely-Used-In-Nigeria-Women-And-Suppliers-Talk-About-Their-Experiences

18.01.2024

Commentary

Research

abortion pills

clandestine abortions

Nigeria – Importance Of Implementing Effective Family Planning Programme After Childbirth

By Chioma Umeha
Jan 5, 2024

The importance of implementing an effective family planning programme after childbirth cannot be overstated. It is crucial to ensure the well-being of both the mother and the child.

By providing access to comprehensive family planning services, individuals can make informed decisions about their reproductive health and plan for the future.

This not only promotes the physical and emotional health of the family but also contributes to the overall development and stability of society.

Continued: https://independent.ng/importance-of-implementing-effective-family-planning-programme-after-childbirth/

Nigeria – Abortion: Man arrested for injecting woman to death

4th January 2024

A 24-year-old man, Chidera Ugwu, has been arrested by the police in Kano for conducting an unsafe abortion, which led to the death of a 19 year old pregnant lady, Amina Bala.

A statement issued, Thursday, by the command’s spokesman, Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, explained that the suspect, who resides at Lanbum Banki Tofa Local Government Area, was apprehended after administering drugs and injecting the pregnant lady, with the intent to cause miscarriage, which led to her death.

Continued: https://sunnewsonline.com/abortion-man-arrested-for-injecting-woman-to-death/

04.01.2024

News

Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa

Nigeria – Group decries number of unsafe abortions, complications in Oyo

by Sade Oguntola
December 28, 2023

EXECUTIVE Director of the Plan Health Advocacy and Development Foundation, Mr Obatunde Oladapo, has expressed concern over the number of unsafe abortions in Oyo State and the need to stem the needless deaths and ill-health arising from them.

Oladapo, who spoke at the stakeholders’ assessment and consultative session on the prevention of unsafe abortion organised by the foundation, stated that over one million abortions occur in Nigeria annually, with illegal abortion accounting for 11 percent of maternal deaths in Nigeria.

Continued; https://tribuneonlineng.com/group-decries-number-of-unsafe-abortions-complications-in-oyo/

28.12.2023

News

Obatunde Oladapo

Plan Health Advocacy and Development Foundation

Nigeria – Interview: 2024 health budget of N1trn will barely scratch the surface, says expert

Dec 16, 2023
In 2017, Nigeria’s maternal mortality hit 917 per 100,000 births. Three years later, the figures surged by nearly 14 percent to 1,047 deaths, ranking among the world’s highest. With each spike, it is a bleak canvas of despair for countless Nigerian women seeking to bring life into the world.

With the conclusion of the 16 days of activism, Lucky Palmer, country director of Ipas Nigeria Health Foundation, spoke with TheCable’s CLAIRE MOM to shed light on the factors that contributed to the country’s high maternal mortality rate and offered practical steps that can be taken to ensure every woman’s right to safe childbirth.

Continued: https://www.thecable.ng/interview-2024-health-budget-of-n1tn-will-barely-scratch-surface-says-expert

16.12.2023

Interviews/Podcasts

Ipas Nigeria Health Foundation

Nigeria – Maternal Mortality: Osun Unveils Policy On Safe Abortion

Written by Joshua Dada
Dec 15, 2023

Osun State government has unveiled a “policy document on safe termination of pregnancy and its legal indications” in the state. Representing the state government at the event, the special adviser on public health to the governor, Dr Akindele Adekunle, said the document is aimed at improving healthcare delivery services in the state, especially as it concerns the mother and child healthcare challenges.

“Nigeria is now ranked as having the second largest burden of maternal mortality in the world, after India. Most of these deaths are of known causes and are preventable. As Nigeria aligns with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) efforts at eliminating all preventable maternal deaths by 2030, every effort must henceforth be made to identify and prevent every prevalent preventable cause of maternal deaths.

Continued: https://leadership.ng/maternal-mortality-osun-unveils-policy-on-safe-abortion/

15.12.2023