Public Education On Safe Abortion

DKT International Ghana, a global non-profit social enterprise in collaboration with DKT WomanCare, on Monday, September 27, 2021, coordinated a campaign to create awareness on safe abortion ahead of the commemoration of this year’s International Safe Abortion Day.

The roundtable discussion in Accra explored the use of Manual Vacuum Aspirators (MVA) in Ghana.

The event, dubbed Papaya training, was led by the Director of Medical Affairs of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Ali Samba.

Dr. Samba noted that more than half of pregnancies in Ghana are unintended.

He said due to stigma, most women resort to unsafe methods in a bid to terminate pregnancies.

“According to the Ghana Statistical Service, almost 1 in 6 (15%) of women in reproductive age in Ghana have had an unsafe abortion (GSS, 2016), with almost 1/3 of women in rural areas who go through abortion using illegal and nonmedical methods (GMHS, 2017).”

“30 women die for every 100,000 unsafe abortions in developed regions. The number rises to 220 deaths per 100,000 unsafe abortions in developing regions, and 520 deaths per 100,000 unsafe abortions in sub-Saharan Africa,” he added.

Dr. Samba advocated for women to opt for safe abortions, adding that they come with no complications.

“Researchers have found that women are 14 times more likely to die during or after childbirth than from complications of an abortion.”

He thus advocated for a friendly environment to encourage women to terminate unwanted pregnancies.

The participants of the event were also taken through how to administer the Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) abortion, one of the safest abortion methods using papaya.

International Safe Abortion Day

28th September is the annual day of action in support of the right to safe abortion.

It has been celebrated since 1990 in Latin America, and since 2011 around the world.

Recent years have seen hundreds of activities in dozens of countries across all global regions.

National and world leaders have begun to make statements in support of the day, and a growing number of media outlets report national and international events and write articles on the theme.

About DKT International

DKT International is a registered, non-profit organisation founded in 1989 to focus the power of social marketing on some of the largest countries with the greatest needs for family planning, HIV/AIDS prevention, and safe abortion.

It is one of the largest private providers of family planning products in the world, having generated over 48.6 million couple years of protection (CYPs) in 2020.

Five of the ten largest contraceptive social marketing programs in the world are DKT programs.

Since 2012, DKT has operated to provide safe, affordable, and effective choices of contraceptive and HIV prevention products and services through pharmacies, chemical shops, private clinics, and maternity homes.

As the market leader, DKT distributes a variety of products ranging from Fiesta Condoms and Kiss Condoms as well as the proprietary owner of Lydia (a female reproductive health brand with a complete range of contraceptives options).