Abstract

  This paper attempts a discursive perspective on reproductive health challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly on how it affects Maternal Mortality Prevalence (MMP), the availability of safe contraceptive medications, the prevailing trends on forced and under-age marriages as well as how poverty and low income economic statuses of many households serve to endanger the lives of thousands of expectant mothers as well as infants in their first five years after birth. The paper concludes that there are non-medical and non-scientific perspectives to the challenges to accessing quality reproductive health by millions of women in Sub-Saharan Africa. Among these extra-medical factors are cultural, religious and social climates (Wars and Armed conflicts) manifestly in sexual violence, forceful pregnancy, genital mutilation and abuse, unconsented marriages among many. The paper concludes that while inter- governmental partnership is required to address the challenges of poor reproductive health, International non-governmental Organizations and NGOs should be concerted to forge a unified focus on the campaign for effective reproductive health care delivery in sub-Saharan Africa.

  More than 300 million of Africa’s 730 million ‘projected births through 2030 will not be attended by skilled health personnel. 65 per cent of women with an unintended pregnancy were as a result of non-use of contraceptive or reliance on traditional methods (Such as withdrawal or Calendar-based method)-(WHO 2019). About 3,192 000 children who survive their first month of life after birth die before their fifth birthday accounting for half of global maternal and child death (13000 deaths per year). Furthermore, Faith-based Organizations and Traditional Institutions that are the repositories of traditional and cultural values of most African societies should be co-opted in the campaign against cultural practices and religious beliefs that endanger the reproductive health of today’s African women and girls. On the national fronts, the governments of African states should increase budgetary allocations to health sector for healthy citizens make up healthy nations.

Keywords: Maternal Mortality Prevalence; Reproductive Health; Budgetary Allocations; Faith-based Organizations; Sub-Saharan Africa; INGOs; NGOs; Extra-Medical Factors; Repositories

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Citation

Citation: Acheoah Ofeh Augustine. “Reproductive Health Standards in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Critical Overview of Policy and Administrative Gaps by Acheoah Ofeh Augustine, International Relations Analyst, University of Lagos, Nigeria”. Acta Scientific Women's Health 2.1 (2020): 29-36.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Acheoah Ofeh Augustine. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.