|
| Ipas Zambia director Felicia Sakala and Dr. Max Bweupe of the Ministry of Health opened the Zambia office with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. |
| Ipas |
|
Five years into its work to reduce the number of deaths from unsafe abortion in Zambia, Ipas is stepping up its efforts by launching a full-scale country program. Ipas Zambia officially opened its office on Dec. 14, 2011, with a ceremony in Lusaka attended by a representative of the Ministry of Health and dozens of local partners and Ipas staff.
Two women who have received safe, legal abortion care from trained health-care providers spoke at the ceremony. They urged women and girls facing unwanted pregnancies to get abortion care at health centers rather than through home remedies. Even though Zambia’s Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1972 permits abortion for health risks and other socioeconomic grounds, many women still resort to dangerous clandestine procedures because of the social stigma and myths surrounding abortion.
One of the women said she had almost bled to death after trying to abort with medicinal herbs. She had feared that getting an abortion in a hospital would prevent her from ever conceiving again. She said she now knows that such fears are unfounded, and advised any woman contemplating abortion to not use herbs but to go to a hospital.
Dr. Max Bweupe, acting director of public health and research for the Ministry of Health, welcomed Ipas’s expanded presence in Zambia and said the government remains committed to working in partnership with Ipas to reduce the nation’s maternal death rate. It is estimated that up to one-third of all maternal deaths in Zambia are the result of unsafe abortion.
Those thousands of deaths from unsafe abortion are completely preventable, says Felicia Sakala, a registered midwife and community health nurse who is the country director for Ipas Zambia. In the coming months, she says, Ipas will continue to focus on and expand its efforts to break down the legal, financial, and social barriers to safe abortion care.
Ipas began its work in Zambia in 2006, assisting the Ministry of Health with implementation of the 1972 Termination of Pregnancy Act. Led by Dr. Eunice Brookman-Amissah, Ipas’s vice president for Africa, Ipas helped initiate a strategic assessment of abortion in 2008 and subsequently worked in close partnership with the government and other stakeholders to develop and disseminate official standards and guidelines for reducing unsafe abortion.
Ipas has also worked with providers at more than 40 health-care facilities to provide training and equipment, and reaches out to community and youth groups to raise awareness about reproductive health and rights, including access to safe abortion care.
In addition to the ceremony marking its official opening, Ipas Zambia sent a delegation to meet with the First Lady of Zambia, Dr. Christine Kaseba Sata. She is a well-respected leader and champion for reproductive health and rights, and remains committed to ensuring that women have the right to choose the number and timing of their children and to reducing deaths from unsafe abortion. The Ipas delegation meeting with the First Lady included Mary Luke, Ipas executive vice president for programs; Dr. Iqbal Hossain, regional director for East Africa; and Wilfred Manda of the Ipas Zambia staff.
For more information, contact media@ipas.org