Referencia

BMJ Global Health. Suiza.

Resumen general

Previous reports have already estimated the overall number of abortions and the number of unsafe abortions in Latin America. Conversely, there are few reliable datafrom this region to inform public policies aiming to meet women´s needs. In this context, the Latin American Centre of Perinatology (Centro Latinoamericano de Perinatología (CLAP)) created a network specialising in the care ofwomen in an abortion situation (CLAP MUSA-Network) in an attempt to strengthen healthcare surveillance in Latin America by using the Perinatal Information System (Sistema Informático Perinatal (SIP)). This system was developed by the CLAP with a special module named SIP Abortion (SIP-A), a data collection tool designed by Latin American experts to be routinely used in cases of legal and incomplete abortions. The SIP-Afollows the standards established by WHO, allowing investigators to systematise information, generate local reports and monitor changes after training and follow-up interventions based on national guidelines. This network promotes collaborative work between institutions to strengthen epidemiological surveillance, cooperative investigation and developmentof a critical mass of professionals skilled in sexual and reproductive health. Currently, 29 sentinel centres from 13 countries jointly work exchanging information to improve surveillance of healthcare indicators of womenin an abortion situation. Latin America was the first region in the world to have a network of sentinel centres that continuously monitors healthcare provision to these women. Data collected by this network are already beingused to design, implement and evaluate public policies.