Practically half of all pregnancies are unintended

The U.N. Inhabitants Fund says new analysis reveals that almost half of all pregnancies worldwide—121 million yearly—are unintended, which it calls “a uncared for disaster.”

In its annual State of World Inhabitants Report 2022 launched Wednesday, the fund mentioned over 60% of unintended pregnancies finish in abortion and an estimated 45% of abortions are unsafe, inflicting 5% to 13% of maternal deaths.

“This report is a wakeup name,” mentioned Dr. Natalia Kanem, govt director of the fund, which now calls itself the U.N.’s sexual and reproductive well being company.

“The staggering variety of unintended pregnancies represents a worldwide failure to uphold ladies and women’ fundamental human rights. For the ladies affected, probably the most life-altering reproductive selection—whether or not or to not grow to be pregnant—is not any selection in any respect,” she mentioned.

The speed of unintended being pregnant did decline between 1990 and 2019, from 79 to 64 for each 1,000 ladies aged 15 to 49, and that gives “some consolation,” the report mentioned. However it famous the entire variety of ladies experiencing unintended pregnancies elevated about 13% over the 30-year interval due to inhabitants progress.

In response to the fund’s analysis, an estimated 257 million ladies globally who need to keep away from being pregnant aren’t utilizing protected and trendy strategies of contraception, and in 47 international locations about 40% of sexually energetic ladies weren’t utilizing any contraceptive strategies.

U.N. knowledge this 12 months ladies of reproductive age in 64 international locations confirmed that 23% have been unable to say no to intercourse, 24% have been unable to make selections about their very own well being care, and eight% have been unable to make selections about contraception, the report mentioned.

“Collectively, which means that solely 57% of girls are capable of make their very own selections over their sexual and reproductive rights,” it mentioned.

In response to knowledge printed within the British medical journal The Lancet in 2020, the report mentioned that “in 2015-2019 there have been roughly 121 million unintended pregnancies every year, with some 48% of all pregnancies being unintended.”

Jonathan Bearak, a senior analysis scientist on the Guttmacher Institute, led the research that analyzed country-by-country knowledge on unintended pregnancies simply launched by Guttmacher and the World Well being Group, the fund mentioned.

Kanem mentioned that “stopping unintended pregnancies is a nonnegotiable first step” towards gender equality.

“When people are capable of train actual knowledgeable selection over their well being, our bodies and futures, they will contribute to extra affluent societies and a extra sustainable, equitable and simply world,” she mentioned within the ahead to the report.

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