Access to medical abortion medicines in the South-East Asia Region - a status report

Overview

Over half of all estimated unsafe abortions globally in 2015–2019 were in Asia. A sizeable numberof these happened in the WHO South-East Asia (‎SEA)‎ Region. Unsafe abortion remains a majorpublic health issue and is the cause of about one in 10 global maternal deaths. Maternal mortalityand poor maternal health due to unsafe abortions are one of the key challenges for the SEARegion on the road to achieving the SDG 3.1 target of reducing the ‘maternal mortality ratio to lessthan 70 per 100 000 live births by 2030’. Medical abortion (‎MA)‎ is a safe alternative for abortionand is recommended by WHO where post-abortion care is available.

To ensure access and effective use of MA medicines, policy, regulation, registration, NEMLinclusion, financing and supply chain management must be conducive to legal frameworks in thecountries. This report provides an overview of the current situation with regard to MA medicinesand provides practical recommendations for countries to strengthen access to MA. This documentprovides a way forward for the Region and countries to advocate towards greater access tomedical abortion services for needy women.