In Burkina Faso, as in the majority of African countries, issues related to sexual and reproductive health are considered taboo.
However, the indicators are alarming in this field. In 2020, the statistics revealed concerning numbers in Burkina Faso, such as:
- 320 maternal deaths per 100,000 childbirths
- Additionally, 117 adolescent childbirths per 100,000 adolescents
One of the areas of interest for SOGOB (Burkinabe Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) is women’s genital health during pregnancy. According to Professor Der Adolphe SOME, President of SOGOB and a researcher at the Nazi Boni University, this includes aspects like reproduction, difficulties related to conception, and maintaining a healthy pregnancy.
This is the reason why SOGOB is organizing this workshop to clarify values for transforming attitudes into sexual and reproductive rights and health, aimed at members of the Legislative Assembly.
During this exchange, which will take place from January 18th to 19th, 2022, SOGOB intends to present these indicators to the members of the Legislative Assembly while drawing their attention to the fact that these numbers can be changed. This will be accomplished through exercises designed to address taboo topics related to sexual and reproductive health.
“Through these exercises, each participant will express their views on the best approach to preventing maternal deaths and complications and, in turn, change our perspective on these different themes,” stated Dr. Sabine Liliou, the facilitator.
This will, in the first instance, lead to conforming to and enforcing Burkina Faso’s legislation concerning sexual and reproductive health issues. This includes simplifying the procedures for safe abortion and extending the initially prescribed period of 14 weeks, as defined by the country’s legislation.
In the second instance, the goal is to initiate preventive actions to improve the situation of sexual and reproductive health in Burkina Faso.
As Dr. Sabine Liliou emphasized, in a country with limited resources, prevention is always a significant step towards clear success.
