34,000 women die in 760,000 abortions yearly in Nigeria

An estimated 34,000 women die in 760, 0000 abortions that are performed yearly in Nigeria, Prof. Innocent Ujah, Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, has said.

Ujah said this in Abuja on Friday at an international meeting on the prevention of unsafe abortion.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ujah spoke at the forum organised by the Federation of International Gynaecologists and Obstetricians (FIGO).

NAN also reports that the meeting involved participants from Brazil, Mali, Cameroun, Ghana and Gabon with Nigeria as the host.

Ujah, who is also the focal person, Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON), said it was disheartening for a woman to die in the process of giving life.

He said unsafe abortions contributed to 13 to 50 per cent of child and mother deaths in Sub- Saharan Africa, adding that it called for effective action.

“Unsafe abortions contribute 13 to 50 per cent of deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa in pregnancy and child birth and we believe we can be part of the discussions on how to reduce it.

“We are not talking mainly of induced abortion, we are also talking of miscarriages that are not taken to the hospital and get infected or the women bleed to death.

“All these constitute a major problem to maternal mortality,” Ujah said.

Mr Robert Leke, Regional Coordinator of FIGO Project in the West Central African region, said that the proper training of personnel at all levels would ensure the delivery of babies in a conducive environment.

He said that quacks had contributed immensely to the death of women at the point of delivery.

“We need to train personnel to make sure that women are delivering in safe hands; we need to make sure that home deliveries disappear.

“Government had to ensure the training of midwives, doctors and the training of all those who have to do with reproductive health,” Leke said.

“The high percentage of death of mothers mostly occurs among women who do not use family planning, which is why it is very important we extend family planning to sexually active women,” said the coordinator.