Unsafe abortions cause 68,000 deaths a year: WHO

About 19 million unsafe abortions occur worldwide each year, leading to the deaths of about 68,000 women, but governments are not paying enough attention to sexual and reproductive health, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

With people marrying later, opportunities for premarital sex are increasing, causing higher rates of unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted diseases, said the UN agency in a statement.

The WHO said a first-ever global study on sexual and reproductive health would be published in the Lancet medical journal starting this week.

The study, coordinated by the WHO, shows that the level of disability and premature death due to sexual and reproductive health problems is huge and increasing.

More than half a million women die as a result of complications in pregnancy and childbirth every year, it says, adding that an estimated 80 million women have unintended or unwanted pregnancies each year and 45 million of them end in abortion.

Access to contraception has increased worldwide but there are still an estimated 120 million couples who do not get the contraceptives they would like or need, the study shows.

"These statistics represent an appalling catalogue of human tragedy," said Joy Phumaphi, WHO assistant director-general for family and community health, in the statement.

"Far from making progress we seem to have been going backward since the notion of reproductive health was born," Phumaphi said.

"The issue is dropping down the international agenda and governments seem to be reluctant to tackle this most fundamental threat to health and well-being."

According to Paul Van Look, the WHO's director of reproductive health and research, sexual behaviors and norms vary enormously around the world and unfortunately many people, including politicians and even health professionals, are uncomfortable dealing with such matters.

"This survey sounds an urgent alarm that if we do not address sexual and reproductive health openly and directly, the toll of death and disability will remain with us for many years to come," Van Look said.

Source: Xinhua