Program provides counselling to 1.5m women to avoid repeat abortions

A charity program to prevent repeat abortions has provided contraception counselling to more than 1.5 million women annually since 2011, according to an announcement from the program Sunday.

The program, sponsored by the China Women's Development Foundation (CWDF) and several family planning research institutes, has set up and sponsored about 480 clinics across China to provide contraception and health counselling for women who have had abortions, said the press release from the program, which held a meeting to review its progress on Sunday.

Repeated abortions cause serious health problems for women, but many Chinese women are not fully aware of the facts, said Yu Hongqiu, deputy chairwoman of the All-China Women's Federation, at the meeting.

China registers about 8 to 10 million abortions annually, and in 55.9 percent of these cases, the women have had previous abortions, according to the press release.

The average age of women who have had abortions has also continued to decline, the statement added.

It is necessary to improve women's awareness of the danger of repeated abortions as well as to educate them with proper knowledge of how to use contraceptives, Yu said.

The program has been proven to be effective to prevent repeated abortion, said Qin Guoying, the CWDF secretary-general.

Doctors and volunteers approach women who have had an abortion in a hospital and coach them through one-on-one counselling to protect their privacy, Qin said.

The program also has a follow-up system to track the participants and offer counselling after they leave the hospital, she said.

They have also assisted hospitals to provide consultations for women who come to inquire about abortion.