WORLD PREVENTION DAY: There are still great efforts to be made in Africa

The international community celebrates World Contraception Day on 26 September every year. The opportunity to take stock of the progress made and look at the challenges ahead. Indeed, access to contraception is a human right. Because, on the one hand, it guarantees every woman to get rid of her body freely. On the other hand, it promotes reducing the risks that pregnancy can present. By reducing the number of pregnancies, especially among teenage girls, contraception therefore contributes to reducing the use of unsafe abortions and preventing maternal deaths. If, in the West, effective policies, including the provision of many free contraceptive services and products to young people and women, are a reality, in Africa, things are different. Certainly, many efforts have been made at the level of state structures and at the level of international organizations, without forgetting the change in mentality within the population, especially among women. However, the tree should not hide the forest. Indeed, socio-cultural constraints and inequalities linked to education, income and gender are a real barrier to the use of contraceptives on the black continent. This shows that great efforts still need to be made in Africa. We will, in fact, have to roll up our sleeves to fight against the many obstacles in order to allow contraception to establish itself in Africa.

It is also important to promote global efforts for reproductive health

To do this, it is necessary to further implement effective family planning policies to support the change to lower fertility rates, with a specific focus on raising awareness which can lead to changes in reproductive behaviour. And this, by targeting categories that still have high levels of fertility in particular. It is also necessary to guarantee the freedom of every woman to protect her reproductive health. It is at this price that Africa will succeed in reversing the trend. Because, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), worldwide, every year, 74 million women living in low and middle income countries get pregnant accidentally. The result is 25 million abortions carried out in unsafe conditions, and 47,000 maternal deaths. Figures that send shivers down your spine. Internationally, it is also important to promote global efforts for reproductive health and family planning.

Money worm I SAY