Increasing access to safe abortion services in Uttarakhand, India

Kathryn Andersen Clark, Ipas
Sushanta Banerjee, Ipas
Janardan Warvadekar, Ipas

Lack of access to safe abortion services and appropriate treatment of complications, particularly in rural areas, leads to an estimated 12,000 deaths per year in India. Much abortion-associated maternal morbidity and mortality could be avoided if safe abortion services were widely available. This prospective study of all 135 public health facilities in the hilly, predominately rural state of Uttarakhand assesses the impact of an integrated program of training providers in comprehensive abortion care while supporting facilities with infrastructure and essential supplies. The baseline (2007) estimates of 19% of rural facilities and 82% of urban hospitals currently provide uterine evacuation services increased significantly to 38% and 88% respectively during the end-line assessment (2009). Proportion of rural women received UE services with appropriate technology improved from 32% in 2007 to 91% in 2009. This work will present comparative progress of program outcomes and lessons learned for expanding services to similar geographic areas.