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The Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON) yesterday raised alarm about the increasing number of women in the country dying from unsafe abortion, which results in as much as 25 per cent of deaths.
It expressed worry about the lack of access to and utilization of Family Planning services in Nigeria, with only 22 per cent of women using any method of family planning, including modern methods.
The National President of SOGON, Dr Habib Sadauki, made this known during a briefing as part of the 2022 scientific conference of the association, supported by the Partnership for Advocacy In Child and Family Health at Scale, anchored by the Development Research and Projects Centre and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Abuja, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to give assent to the Maternal Perinatal and Child Death Surveillance and Response (MPCDSR) Bill.
He said: “Unsafe abortion contributes as much as 25 per cent of maternal deaths. In some places, it could be about five per cent, but the average will be about 15 per cent nationally. It is a significant contributor to maternal mortality. There is a need to address issues around it, including enlightening the public that they don’t have to be pregnant when they are not ready for pregnancy. The government should also look at the laws and see what can be done.
“We need to review the law because anytime you talk about abortion in this country, people shy away; they feel it is not proper. But people are dying. There are instances of accidental pregnancy, gang rape, incest etc. All these abuses occur. We need to address the law so that we can save more mothers from dying unnecessarily.”
