Unsafe abortion's significant contribution to maternal mortality and morbidity was a critical factor leading to liberalization of Nepal's restrictive abortion law in 2002. Careful, comprehensive planning among a range of multisectoral stakeholders, led by Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population, enabled the country subsequently to introduce and scale up safe abortion services in a remarkably short timeframe. This paper examines factors that contributed to rapid, successful implementation of legal abortion in this mountainous republic, including deliberate attention to the key areas of policy, health system capacity, equipment and supplies, and information dissemination. Important elements of this successful model of scaling up safe legal abortion include: the pre-existence of postabortion care services, through which health-care providers were already familiar with the main clinical technique for safe abortion; government leadership in coordinating complementary contributions from a wide range of public- and private-sector actors; reliance on public-health evidence in formulating policies governing abortion provision, which led to the embrace of medical abortion and authorization of midlevel providers as key strategies for decentralizing care; and integration of abortion care into existing Safe Motherhood and the broader health system. While challenges remain in ensuring that all Nepali women can readily exercise their legal right to early pregnancy termination, the national safe abortion program has already yielded strong positive results. Nepal's experience making high-quality abortion care widely accessible in a short period of time offers important lessons for other countries seeking to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity from unsafe abortion and to achieve Millennium Development Goals.

As a result of the restrictive reproductive health policies enforced under the 25-year Ceausescu dictatorship, Romania ended the 1980s with the highest recorded maternal mortality of any country in Europe--159 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1989. An estimated 87 percent of these maternal deaths were caused by illegal and unsafe abortion. Under the Ceausescu regime, all contraceptive methods were forbidden and induced abortion was available only for women who met extremely narrow criteria. Immediately after the December 1989 revolution that overthrew Ceausescu, the new government removed restrictions on contraceptive use and legalized abortion. This legislative change has had beneficial effects on women's health, seen in the drop in maternal mortality in 1990 to 83 deaths per 100,000 live births--almost half the ratio in 1989. In addition, changes instituted since the revolution have led to the improved availability of reproductive health services and to the creation of new educational and training opportunities related to reproductive health services and to the creation of new educational and training opportunities related to reproductive health. The newly created contraceptive and abortion services have presented health system managers and policymakers with many challenges as they work to expand the availability of high-quality, comprehensive reproductive health care in a setting of economic hardship, political unrest, insufficient infrastructure, and outdated medical knowledge and practice.

Globally, nearly half of all maternal deaths from unsafe abortion occur in Africa. Abortion-related deaths and injuries are especially tragic, because when properly performed, abortion is one of the safest of all medical procedures. Factors contributing to this neglected public health crisis include inadequate health care resources and infrastructure, restrictive laws and policies, stigma, and women's lack of empowerment. Actions needed include making high quality abortion care more available and accessible, especially at the primary care level and to the full extent permitted by law. Others include removing medically unnecessary policy and legal restrictions on abortion; and better informing health care professionals, women and communities about the impact of unsafe abortion and the circumstances under which abortion can be legally obtained. (Afr J Reprod Health 2004; 8[1]:29-36)

Obesity is a serious, prevalent, and recurring disorder that affects many school children. There are numerous physical, and perhaps psychosocial, difficulties associated with being overweight. This article examines three major types of intervention strategies that have been utilized in school-based weight-reduction programs. Behavior modification, dietary control/nutrition education, and physical activities have been successfully combined in multifaceted obesity interventions to produce modest weight loss. Improved research designs, long-term follow-up, further examination of social supports, and prevention strategies are needed. Requests for reprints should be sent to