Résumé : Unsafe abortion is entirely preventable. Yet, it remains a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in much of the developing world. Over the past decade, the World Health Organization has developed a systematic approach to estimating the regional and global incidence of unsafe abortion and the mortality associated with it. Estimates based on figures for the year 2000 indicate that 19 million unsafe abortions take place each year, that is, approximately one in ten pregnancies end in an unsafe abortion, giving a ratio of one unsafe abortion to about seven live births. Almost all unsafe abortions take place in developing countries.Women who resort to unskilled or untrained abortion providers put their health and life at risk. Worldwide an estimated 68 000 women die as a consequence of unsafe abortion. In developing countries the risk of death is estimated at 1 in 270 unsafe abortion procedures. Where contraception is inaccessible or of poor quality, many women will seek to terminate unintended pregnancies, despite restrictive laws and lack of adequate abortion services. Prevention of unplanned pregnancies must therefore be the highest priority, followed by improving the quality of abortion services and of post-abortion care.
Site web : http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/publications/unsafe_abortion_estimates_04/index.html