Ipas has announced that it will expand its work in Ethiopia — sub-Saharan Africa’s second most-populous country — with a strong focus on comprehensive abortion care (CAC), postabortion contraception and youth. The program promises to reach thousands of men and women with critical reproductive health services.
“We plan to implement practical strategies to address training, management and supply needs to ensure effective integration of comprehensive abortion care (CAC) and comprehensive contraceptive services,” says Ipas Regional Director for Africa Programs William Sampson.
Since the early 1990s, Ipas has played a pivotal role in expanding access to postabortion care (PAC) services in Ethiopia. Ipas and partners were integral in the 2005 law reform, which broadened the circumstances in which abortion is legally permitted. Since the reform, Ipas and the Ministry of Health have worked together to develop and implement guidelines for safe abortion care under the new law.
Building on past experiences and efforts, Ipas plans to work with partners to expand access to safe abortion services, including postabortion family planning and contraceptive services, in five regions — Addis Ababa City, Amhara, Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) and Tigray. Ipas also plans to focus media and community outreach on youth — young people and adolescents account for approximately 40 percent of Ethiopia’s population. Targeted interventions with underserved groups, such as rural and out-of-school youth, will be an integral part of Ipas’s increased efforts in the country.
The scale-up plan aims to:
Build the skills of more than 2,700 providers from 521 facilities around the country;
Train and equip 200 public health facilities to provide youth-friendly CAC services to roughly 77,000 young women and contraceptive services to approximately 100,000 young women, ages 15-24;
Implement a pilot study with two midwifery schools: training and evaluating 500 students and documenting strategies to increase the number of trainees able to provide CAC and contraceptive care;
Equip 521 public and private facilities with 5,000 manual vacuum aspirators (MVA), 42,500 cannulae, medical abortion drugs, contraceptive commodities and other supplies necessary to sustain high-quality abortion and contraceptive services;
Increase community awareness of how to prevent unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion, especially with youth. Ipas intends to reach 700,000 young people through these efforts;
Ensure increased allocation for government resources for CAC and contraceptive services and implement an effective monitoring and evaluation system. <
Only 14 percent of married women of reproductive age (15-44) use modern contraception in Ethiopia, according to 2007 Population Reference Bureau estimates. Approximately 16 million Ethiopian women — 36 percent — have unmet family planning needs. High maternal mortality and low contraceptive use mean unsafe abortion is a significant health threat for Ethiopian women and girls. With its expanded program to reach some of Ethiopia’s most vulnerable populations, Ipas will continue to work with the Ministry of Health and other partners to be part of the solution to this preventable public health crisis.
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