FIGO INITIATIVE FOR THE PREVENTION OF UNSAFE ABORTION Goals and activities proposed by countries in seven regions of the world toward prevention of unsafe abortion Florence Mirembe a , Joseph Karanja b , Ezzeldin Osman Hassan c , Anibal Faúndes d, ⁎ a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Makerere University College of Health Services, Kampala, Uganda b Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya c Egyptian Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Cairo, Egypt d Center of Research on Reproductive Health of Campinas (CEMICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil abstract article info Keywords: Interventions Plans of action Prevention Regional variability Unsafe abortion This article describes the goals and activities included in the national plans of action for the prevention of unsafe abortion. With broad variability, all were in line with the initiative's purpose of contributing to reduce the number of women who have unplanned pregnancies and induced abortions, as well as the maternal mortality and morbidity associated with unsafe abortion. The interventions proposed can be classified in 5 groups: (1) to work toward better national policies through obtaining and disseminating accurate evidence- based data on abortion and to sensitize policy makers and health professionals on issues pertaining to unsafe abortion; (2) to reduce the number of unplanned/unwanted pregnancies by increasing the use of modern contraceptive methods, introducing or improving sex education, and improving adolescent-friendly reproductive health services; (3) to make induced abortion safer by making adequate abortion services available, within the full extent of the national laws, and promoting access to safe abortion; (4) to improve postabortion care, including postabortion contraception; and (5) to reduce the need to resort to abortion by working on facilitating the process of adoption. The proportions of plans that include each of these interventions are described, as well as some regional differences. © 2010 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Sexual and reproductive health and rights issues continue to be a huge burden in many countries, especially those in low-resource regions of the world. FIGO, in its endeavor to improve women's health, continues to assist nations toward achieving universal access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services [1]. FIGO prioritized unsafe abortion as one of the entry points toward improving women's health and reducing maternal mortality and morbidity. The previous articles in this Supplement have described why FIGO took the decision to work worldwide to prevent unsafe abortion and its consequences, establishment of the initiative's Working Group and its mandate, and the process followed to achieve FIGO's goals [2,3]. In this article we describe the variety of goals and activities that the countries included in their plans of action. Although there was great variability between countries and regions, all were in the line with the general purpose of the initiative, namely to contribute to reduce the number of women with unplanned pregnancies who resort to voluntary termination of pregnancy, as well as to reduce the maternal mortality and morbidity associated with abortions carried out in unsafe conditions. Recognizing the unique circumstances of each nation, the plans of actions were drawn up by the different country teams and consider- ation was given to their broad and flexible needs. Each country had total freedom to adapt FIGO's general aims to meet their needs, and was not required to start afresh if they already had strategies in place; instead, countries were encouraged to review their current national plans to identify gaps and areas for improvement. At the same time, the plans and goals recognized the role of different stakeholders and collaborators within their national reproductive health programs. In addition, each plan sets indicators for monitoring progress of each of the proposed interventions. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 110 (2010) S25–S29 ⁎ Corresponding author. Center of Research on Reproductive Health of Campinas (CEMICAMP), P.O. Box 6181, 13.083-970 - Campinas, SP, Brazil. Tel.: +55 19 3289 2856; fax: +55 19 3289 2440. E-mail addresses: afaundes@cemicamp.org.br, afaundes@uol.com.br (A. Faúndes). 0020-7292/$ – see front matter © 2010 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2010.04.006 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijgo