GHS supervises more abortion cases in 2017

By
Dennis Peprah, GNA 

Sunyani, Oct. 3, GNA – Figures from the Ghana
Health Service (GHS) reveal that 53,114 abortions were supervised in public
health facilities in the country in 2017.

Unsafe abortion also recorded 13,918 in the
same period as compared to 15,325 unsafe abortion cases in 2016, Mr Raphael
Godlove Athena, the Chief Executive Officer of Global Media Foundation
(GLOMEF), a health-inclined non-governmental organisation, has said.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in
Sunyani in commemoration of the 2018 Safe Abortion Day, Mr Ahenu said the
provision of safe and legal abortion remains essential to achieving goals three
and seven of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of access to sexual and
reproductive health.

He said there is the need for government to
commit more resources-financial and logistics to provide comprehensive sexual
education-family planning counselling, access to safe abortion and
contraceptives.

The International Safe Abortion Day, which
falls on September 28, every year, was instituted by the Women’s Global Network
for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) for action towards decriminalisation of
abortion.

Mr Ahenu expressed regret that unreported
cases of unsafe abortion were killing many women in the country due to the laws
prohibiting abortion.

“Many desiring women and girls cannot easily
access effective contraceptives and safe abortion services as well as family
planning services. This is affecting them seriously as most of them prepare and
apply concoctions to terminate unintended pregnancies”, he said.

Globally, Mr Ahenu said, 25 million unsafe
abortion cases occur every year, according to report by the World Health
Organisation (WHO), saying the Global Gag Rule Policy of the United States
remained the major contributory factor.

The Policy denies US funding of family
planning and population assistance programmes.

He said his NGO was determined to use all
available resources to intensify advocacy campaign on safe abortion and easy
access to contraceptives to help reduce maternal mortality.

GNA 

قالب وردپرس