Unsafe Abortions Rife Among Teenagers

Unsafe Abortions Rife Among Teenagers

Research conducted by Pathfinder International (PI), an international non-governmental organisation, has revealed that the proportion of women aged 15-19 who had had an unsafe abortion in Africa, was higher than for any other region in the world. The Youth Friendly Post-Abortion Care project was implemented in eight countries, including Ghana, Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. It was to address unsafe abortion among adolescent women and increase access to PAC services in the implementing countries.

"About 60 per cent of worldwide unsafe abortions are performed on African women under the age of 25," causing danger to their reproductive health, the research indicated.

Mrs Gertrude Ananse-Baiden, Assistant Programme Officer of Pathfinder International, , who disclosed this at a dissemination of a Youth Friendly Post-Abortion Care Project in Accra recently, noted that despite the prevalence rate of unsafe abortion among young women, few programmes directly targeted youth and adolescents with Post -Abortion Care (PAC).

Reported at: http://www.modernghana.com/newsp/189674/1/pageNum1/unsafe-abortions-rife-among-teenagers.html

Visit Pathfinder International to access publications on the Youth Friendly Post-Abortion Care project issued in October 2008.