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Preventing unsafe abortion: Achievements and challenges of a global FIGO initiative
Highlights
•The FIGO Initiative on Prevention of Unsafe Abortion was launched in November 2007 and has continued since then.
•FIGO Activities were based on situation analysis and plan of action developed with the Ministry of Health.
•Regional workshops were held to review the progress and share the knowledge and experiences.
•Significant achievements have been made in expanding access to safe abortion in the participating countries.
•The biggest challenge experienced by the Initiative has been the resistance due to stigma.
Abstract
FIGO established a Working Group on the Prevention of Unsafe Abortion in 2007 and a parallel program or “Initiative” with the same name. The initiative involved 46 FIGO member societies from seven regions: South-Southeast Asia, Eastern-Central Europe and Central Asia, North Africa and Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern-Central-Southern Africa, Western-Central Africa, Central America and Caribbean, and South America. Each society working in collaboration with the corresponding Ministry of Health and other agencies conducted a situational analysis and prepared a plan of action based on the findings. Such plans of action are continuously monitored by annual evaluation of the progress in the implementation at regional workshops. A substantial progress has been achieved in providing legal and safe abortion services, replacing curettage for manual vacuum aspiration or misoprostol and introducing and expanding postabortion contraception with emphasis on long-acting methods, such as IUDs and contraceptive implants.
Highlights