Karnataka - Mysore   

SAATHI to provide easy access to safe abortion

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE, AUG. 25. The Family Planning Association of India (FPAI), Mysore branch, will launch a project that envisages easy access to safe abortion facilities to reduce maternal mortality rate.

G.S. Bhat, President of the branch, told presspersons here today that the project, Services for Adolescents and Training in Health Issues (SAATHI), would increase awareness among the people on the impact of unsafe abortion. SAATHI would address the development needs of the youth in a holistic manner and help build values, equip them with life skills and bring about maturity and understanding through provisions of services and knowledge through its youth centres, Mr. Bhat said.

In view of the fact that society was conservative and did not accept intermingling of sexes, the FPAI would have SAATHI centres for boys and girls to enable easier acceptability of its services and programmes by the community. However, there would be opportunities for enhancing healthy interactions between them, he said.

The centres will be multipurpose community-based hubs which will effectively facilitate the growing up process by providing facilities to meet the young people's needs and interests.

Linkages

Linkages will be established with specialist doctors, drug rehabilitation centres, clinical family planning and safe abortion facilities, and institutions providing skill training. The centres will be managed by youth volunteers from the community trained under the project and each SAATHI Centre would be linked to and work through neighbourhood groups of Yuva Saathis which will be responsible for educating and providing services and referrals.

Unsafe abortion

On the importance of SAATHI in helping to provide safe abortion practices, Mr. Bhat said unsafe abortion practice was one of the major causes of maternal mortality rate and high incidents of morbidity in the country.

Lack of safe abortion practices was attributed to ignorance about the need to abort within a stipulated time to lower the risk of morbidity, ignorance about the legality of the procedure being adopted for abortion, absence of adequate infrastructure among the service providers, etc., all of which had increased the maternal mortality rate in the country, he added.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• Tree ownership rights to growers may boost green cover
• SAATHI to provide easy access to safe abortion
• Private firm to market Dasara
• Tight security for bandh in Mysore
• Meeting of surgeons from Friday
• College to launch new courses

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu