By Laide Akinboade, Abuja

Stakeholders in the Health sector on Thursday, raised alarm over the 610,000 unsafe abortions are carried out annually in Nigeria.

This was revealed in Abuja in Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, SRHR Summit 1.0, in commemoration of World Contraception Day, 2024 organized by Media, Health and Rights Initiative of Nigeria.

The Country Director, IPAs Nigeria Health Foundation, Dr Lucky Palmer, in his opening address said it is important for Nigerian women to be able to choose what they want.
According to the IPAs boss, “Women are not able to express what they want and sometimes, just imagine going to the hospital and you are not able to express yourself.

“Unplanned pregnancy is a great challenge but these pregnancies are preventable, we shouldn’t be having unplanned pregnancies if contraceptives are free. Nigeria contributes about 28% of maternal deaths in the world”.

He urged Stakeholders in the sector, “Stakeholders must not relent in their efforts in addressing the challenges. Contraception should be available to all, including married women, young ones who are single. Contraception should not only be for married women, it should also be for young people. Other animals have sex for procreation but human beings have sex for pleasure. If we are to prevent unnecessary deaths among our women and it is imperative we have this conversation”.

He said, “About 610,000 unsafe abortions are carried out annually in Nigeria. An estimated 285, 000 women and girls experience complications from unsafe abortions in Nigeria annually. About 20,000 people die from complications arising from unsafe abortions annually in Nigeria. Half of these 20,000 who die from complications from unsafe abortion are adolescent girls.
Unsafe abortions are a major contributor of Nigeria’s high maternal mortality ratio which is among the highest in the world (1,500 women per 100,000 births).

“Only 16% of women of reproductive age use any form of contraception, with even fewer using modern methods with success rates.
“28 out of every 100 pregnancy in Nigeria are unintended and 48% of these pregnancies end in induced abortion.
While women of all age gap and socio-economic class make up the demographic of women aged 15 -19, women who have no educational background and women in the poorest communities are significantly more likely to have unsafe abortions according to research.

“72% of deaths among girls below the age of 19 are from unsafe abortion complications.
Unsafe abortions remain a significant public health issue in Nigeria, contributing to high maternal and mortality rates .

“Despite legal restrictions, induced abortion is quite common , with an estimated 1.25 million abortions performed in 2012.

“Although Nigeria ratified the Maputo protocol, an agreement among African Union countries that safe guard the reproductive rights of women and girls, abortion remains legal only to save a woman’s life.

“With an estimated abortion rate of 33 abortions per 1, 000 women, research by the Guttmacher Institute shows that most of these abortions are performed clandestinely and unsafely. In 2023, the contraceptive prevalence rate in Nigeria was a mere 16%, indicating a very low use of contraception”.
Dr. Ufuoma Omo-Obi, Board Chair, MHR, in his welcome address at the conference said, one of the most important things that would give joy to Nigerian youths is to be able to access healthcare. Especially women that are pregnant, in order to reduce Nigeria’s maternal mortality ratio burden.

According to Ufuoma, “It is imperative to join forces together to fight maternal mortality rates in Nigeria by making contraception available for all women. And Nigerian women should not be afraid to have the conversation on safe contraception, and be able to tackle these challenges. Most times people don’t know , how they can relate to these issues.
” Every woman should have right to choose, the Federal Government has a restrictive abortion law with only five states adopting the framework. With more states adopting the framework this would help to reverse the maternal mortality issues in Nigeria. Nigeria is doing well in this administration, the Federal Government has already provided $4 million dollars and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), giving $6 Millon for SRHR in the country”.

National President, Medical Women Association of Nigeria, MWAN, Prof. Rosemary Ogu, while speaking to journalists at the sidelines of the event, urged the three tiers of government to do more of what they are doing by opening up funding for public health, contraceptive free and making pregnancy care free in the country.
She lamented that women should be able planned choose in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, Dr Ejike Orji hinted that there has been a 40 percent reduction in maternal mortality over the period of eight years, Nigeria still has the highest number of maternal mortality in the world. He lamented that 70 percent of people who die are girls below 15 years

He said before now, donors have been supporting family planning with funds , “We must make family planning a legislative agenda the last minister of health refused to release money in his last three years but the new minister has released 4 million dollars and the donor agency 6 million dollars”.