Chinyere Amalu
12 December 2008
More than 52,000 Nigerian women die yearly as a result of pregnancy related complications, while 145 die daily, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has disclosed.
The agency also decried the burden of disability and premature death due to sexual reproductive health which is enormous and growing.
The UNFPA Programme Specialist on Reproductive Health, Dr. Christian Abel, disclosed this in his paper titled, Reproductive Health and Reproductive Right, yesterday in Makurdi Benue State at the on-going media training workshop.
According to him, despite increases in access to contraceptives, an estimated 80 million women have unwanted pregnancies with 45 million ending in abortion, many of them unsafe and resulting in death.
"Pregnancy-related complications kill over 52,000 Nigerian women every year and 145 women a day, leaving over 210 million women with disabilities including obstetric fistula.
"An estimated 340 million new cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and 5 million new cases of HIV infections occur annually with higher occurrence in women and young people.
"It is estimated that between 25-30% of deaths in women will be avoided if they used family planning and child spacing services," he added.
He stressed, that unsafe sex was the second most important cause of disease and death among the world's poorest populations including Nigeria.
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