In June 2023, the Council of Ministers of Gabon adopted the draft decree determining the modalities for managing the termination of pregnancy. To date, how is it being implemented?
International Safe Abortion Day, celebrated on September 28 in Gabon and elsewhere, was an opportunity for Aimée Patricia Ndembi Ndembi, President and co-founder of the Middle Africa Network for Women’s Health: Gabon, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea (GCG), in collaboration with the Association of Midwives of Gabon, to raise awareness, inform and educate on sexual health, pregnancy-related complications, and incomplete abortions. Free implants were also provided during this activity.
This was a highly successful initiative and was appreciated, for example, by Atoure Grâce, one of the beneficiaries, who said: “I already have a child, and it’s really not easy. Without my parents’ help, I don’t know how I would manage. I decided to have an implant… as I don’t want to get another pregnancy right now,” she confided.
Unfortunately, many health personnel lack information and training. Having an abortion and provision of abortion remain severely punished despite certain changes in the law. Training health personnel in manual vacuum aspiration is essential for better care in our hospital settings.
Let’s not forget that a person who wants to have an abortion will do so at all costs, even at the risk to their life.
Lastly, please note that the official opening of the GCG Network’s headquarters in Libreville, Gabon, is scheduled for 8 November 2024.
SOURCE: L’Union, 3 October 2024. PHOTO: Aimée Patricia Ndembi Ndembi