Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 18, 2026
Auricular Point Acupressure Therapy: A Safe and Effective Treatment for Postsurgical Abortion Recovery
Published on: February 3, 2026
Understanding contemporary challenges to safe abortion access in Africa through a health systems lens: a systematic
Caesar Agula1, Edmund Wedam Kanmiki2, Charlotte Abra Esime Ofori3
1Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana caesaragula@gmail.com.
Background:
Unsafe abortion remains a major public health concern in Africa, contributing substantially to maternal morbidity and mortality across the continent. Although legal restrictions, stigma and socio-cultural factors are well-documented barriers to safe abortion access, health systems-related barriers are not adequately explored. This systematic review aims to examine how health systems-related barriers hinder access to safe abortion in clinic settings in Africa over the past decade.
Methods And Analysis:
A comprehensive search strategy will be employed to retrieve relevant studies from electronic databases, including PubMed, Web of Science and African Journals Online. Search terms such as "health system barriers", "structural barriers", "healthcare financing", "healthcare governance", "healthcare leadership", "poor referral systems" and "conscientious objection" will be combined with "abortion access" and "abortion provision" using Boolean operators. The review will include empirical studies, with designs such as cross-sectional, longitudinal, experimental and exploratory on abortion barriers in Africa that are linked to the WHO's health system building blocks. Non-empirical publications (eg, literature reviews and commentaries) will be excluded. Titles, abstracts and full texts will be screened independently by reviewers according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, with discrepancies resolved by consensus. The primary outcome of interest is how health system-related barriers affect access to safe abortion in clinics. The quality of studies will be evaluated using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool and data will be synthesised narratively.
Ethics And Dissemination:
Ethical approval is not required for this study, as it involves analysis of data from published literature and does not include any primary data collection. Results for the main review will be submitted for publication in a journal. Additionally, the results will be disseminated by the African Coalition for Research and Communication on Abortion.
Prospero Registration Number:
PROSPERO 2025 CRD420251156948.
Related Concept Videos
01:26Methods Of Healthcare Delivery System
Managed Care System:
The managed care system is designed to control the cost while maintaining the quality of care. The patient's care from admission to discharge is planned by the primary care provider or the case manager, also known as the gatekeeper. In a managed care system, the number of care providers is limited...
01:21Intrauterine Drug Delivery Systems
01:28International Nursing Organizations II
The WHO provides expert team support, including funding, vaccines, testing, and treatment tools at the country level to fight...