ABORTION KILLS 34,000 WOMEN IN NIGERIA EVERY YEAR

About 34,000 women die in 760,000 abortions that are performed yearly in Nigeria, Prof. Innocent Ujah, Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, has disclosed.

According to Ujah, who spoke at an international meeting on the prevention of unsafe abortion hosted by Nigeria, the act contributed to 13 to 50 percent of child and mother deaths in Sub- Saharan Africa.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ujah spoke at the forum organised by the Federation of International Gynaecologists and Obstetricians (FIGO), which involved participants from Brazil, Mali, Cameroon, Ghana and Gabon.
“Unsafe abortions contribute 13 to 50 percent 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.
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 therefore called for effective action to stop the trend.