Reducing Unsafe Abortion and Expanding Access to Reproductive Health and Safe Abortion.
Given Nigeria’s high rate of mortality in the female adolescent population resulting from unsafe abortion, there is need for urgent and serious rethink of the restrictive abortion laws. By prohibiting legal abortion except for where the life of the mother is in danger, most adolescents have recourse to affordable, illegal service usually rendered by quacks that place women and girls’ health and lives at risk including preventing them from exercising their reproductive rights – to which the government has promised under international laws. The Government is also obligated to implement the 2030 global Sustainable Development Goals agreed by the world’s governments at the United Nations in September 2015, which include a target of universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights .Unsafe abortion is a major contributor to the country’s high levels of maternal death, ill health and disability. According to research, Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world, and little improvement has occurred in recent years. Unsafe abortion is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a procedure for terminating an unintended pregnancy, carried out either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards, or both. Daily about 683 women of child bearing age face complications or death resulting from unsafe abortion. As an intervention to empower women to make decisions that can save their lives safe , Generation Initiative For Women and Youth Network with technical support from its International Partners Women Help Women(WHW) and funding support from Amplify Change have organized an interactive Hotline training resulting in training of 12 counsellors, on management and setting up of toll free hotline that answers calls from women in need of reproductive health information or with problem pregnancy, 24 hours daily .About 432,000 women from all over have accessed the hotline information within two months. According to our statistics the callers are mostly young women including nursing mothers, and adolescent girls. The information given by the Interactive Voice Responses Technology is according to World Health Organization’s standard. It is public but not a medical service. Ms Rosy Hotline assists poor and less privileged women with reliable information on options when faced with unwanted pregnancy, modern contraceptives, missed miscarriage, Safe Birth, prevention of Postpartum Haemorrhage with Misoprostol. Women can access the free health information now to save their lives. Women have the power to decide about their bodies. Women can Call Ms Rosy Hotline :+18555531550