Consortium for Research
On Unsafe Abortion in Africa
The purpose of this website is to be a place for researchers interested in abortion issues in Africa to share resources such as study designs and instruments, bibliographies and reports.
The overarching goals of the Consortium are to: 1. improve understanding of the prevalence, causes and consequences of unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion; 2. provide evidence to support actions to reduce unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion; and 3. increase women’s access to high quality, comprehensive, safe abortion care, within the limits of the law, and post-abortion care. The Consortium will foster high-quality policy and program-relevant research on unwanted pregnancy and abortion in selected countries, disseminate scientific findings broadly, support capacity building, and build a network of researchers to facilitate sharing of skills and information.
FEATURED STUDIES
Perceptions of Policymakers towards Unsafe Abortion and Maternal Mortality in Nigeria (December 2008)
This qualitative study explored the perceptions of key policymakers towards maternal mortality and unsafe abortion in Nigeria. A total of 49 policymakers were interviewed in the six geo-political zones of the country with an open-ended interview guide that solicited information on their knowledge of the causes of abortion-related maternal mortality and their perceptions of the policies and action-plans needed to address the problem.
Assessing the public health, social and economic costs of unsafe abortion
(September 2008)
This pilot study involved developing a design and instruments to measure the economic costs to health systems, households and individuals of unsafe abortion as well as to increase understanding of the social consequences for women and their families of unsafe abortion. Pilot tests were conducted in Mexico, Ethiopia and Pakistan in 2008