title: Insights from an expert group meeting on the definition and measurement of unsafe abortion.
abstract: Until recently, WHO operationally defined unsafe abortion as illegal abortion. In the past decade, however, the incidence of abortion by misoprostol administration has increased in countries with restrictive abortion laws. Access to safe surgical abortions has also increased in many such countries. An important effect of these trends has been that, even in an illegal environment, abortion is becoming safer, and an updated system for classifying abortion in accordance with safety is needed. Numerous factors aside from abortion method or legality should be taken into consideration in developing such a classification system. An Expert Meeting on the Definition and Measurement of Unsafe Abortion was convened in London, UK, on January 9-10, 2014, to move toward developing a classification system that both reflects current conditions and acknowledges the gradient of risk associated with abortion. The experts also discussed the types of research needed to monitor the incidence of abortion at each level of safety. These efforts are urgently needed if we are to ensure that preventing unsafe abortion is appropriately represented on the global public health agenda. Such a classification system would also motivate investment in research to accurately measure and monitor abortion incidence across categories of safety.
authors.affiliation: Guttmacher Institute, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: gsedgh@guttmacher.org.
authors.forename: Gilda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sedgh
authors.affiliation: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, London, UK.
authors.forename: Veronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Filippi
authors.affiliation: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, London, UK.
authors.forename: Onikepe O
authors.initials: OO
authors.lastname: Owolabi
authors.affiliation: Guttmacher Institute, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Susheela D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: At time of expert meeting: Population Council, New York, NY, USA; World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Askew
authors.affiliation: Guttmacher Institute, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Akinrinola
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bankole
authors.affiliation: Ipas, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Janie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benson
authors.affiliation: University of Geneva, Institute of Demographic and Life Course Studies, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Clementine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rossier
authors.affiliation: Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Andrea B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Pembe
authors.affiliation: University of Ibadan, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology College, College of Medicine, Ibadan, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Isaac
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Adewole
authors.affiliation: World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Bela
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ganatra
authors.affiliation: Department For International Development, London, UK.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: MacDonagh
mesh_terms: D000024:Abortion, Illegal / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000145:classification*; D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000145:classification*; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health / Q000639:trends*; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D016595:Misoprostol / Q000009:adverse effects; D061214:Patient Safety; D011247:Pregnancy; D014944:World Health Organization
chemical_list: D016595:Misoprostol
keywords: Illegal abortion; Induced abortion incidence; Misoprostol; Unsafe abortion