EXECUTIVE Director of the Plan Health Advocacy and Development Foundation, Mr Obatunde Oladapo, has expressed concern over the number of unsafe abortions in Oyo State and the need to stem the needless deaths and ill-health arising from them.
Oladapo, who spoke at the stakeholders’ assessment and consultative session on the prevention of unsafe abortion organised by the foundation, stated that over one million abortions occur in Nigeria annually, with illegal abortion accounting for 11 percent of maternal deaths in Nigeria.
He stated that about 50 percent of such deaths due to abortion involve adolescents and young women, adding that married women also constituted a significant proportion of the abortion seekers, with students being the single highest group.
He listed the reason for procuring abortion include financial and emotional inability to care for a baby, fear of rejection by a partner, and academic.
According to him, “unsafe abortion and its consequences are a worrisome phenomenon that requires the attention and concerted response of a broad spectrum of government and other non-state actors in order to stem the needless deaths and morbidity arising from unsafe abortion.
“PLAN Foundation recognised the enormous problems in our society caused by unsafe abortion, particularly in young girls between ages 15 and 25, who are the most affected in society.
“We feel that we need to bring everybody together on board, who have one thing or another to do regarding solving the problem of unsafe abortion. What seems to be the common cause across the different groups is poverty and its impact on the family, as well as poor parenting.
“People are developing many complications, such as infertility and dying from unsafe abortion, and for us, we believe everybody first has a right to life, just as every family has a right to be happy and free of the effects of unsafe abortion.
“So, this is about developing a consensus among the broad spectrum of stakeholders and having a mass movement of people working to address and reduce the scourge of unsafe abortion in Nigeria. Therefore, the best way to prevent unsafe abortions is to prevent unwanted pregnancies.”
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