Zomba District Health Office Records Over 300 Cases of Unsafe Abortions in 3 Months

Zomba, Malawi-The Zomba District Health Office has recorded over 300 cases of unsafe abortions from January to March of this year, according to Senior Nursing Officer and Post-Abortion Care Officer Titha Office, writes Meclina Chirwa.

However, she believes that the actual number may be higher as some cases go unreported.

"For Zomba DHO we register 300-500 cases of unsafe abortion per quarter almost every year. In this case, we have already registered over 300 cases from January to March this year," said Office.

"The most affected group is the youth between the ages of 10 and 24, because, from the data that I am presenting, about 60% is about the mentioned ages, while 30% is for teenagers. So I can say the youths are the most affected group in this case."

Office also pointed to a lack of information about modern contraceptives and cultural beliefs as major contributors to the rise in unsafe abortions.

"The most contributing factors to unsafe abortion are issues of knowledge gaps among community members. Issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights are not discussed openly. You will find out that when a girl is pregnant, it is very difficult for her to seek counselling at a facility," she said.

"These are the same girls who seek services from somewhere. Secondly, cultural and religious beliefs are also a major factor, so there are so many issues that are contributing to this, many girls and women come to the hospital when things have worsened."

Unsafe abortions often occur in countries like Malawi where safe abortion is restricted or unavailable.

An estimated 67,300 induced abortions occur in Malawi annually, with approximately one in five women seeking post-abortion care suffering from severe, often life-threatening complications, such as sepsis.

Despite these high numbers, a recent abortion bill was withdrawn from debate in Parliament due to resistance from lawmakers and citizens.

The bill sought to expand the grounds for safe abortion, including cases of physical or mental injury to the pregnant woman, serious malformation of the fetus, pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, and the likelihood of loss of life for the woman.

Chikondi Kolovi, the country representative for Ipas Malawi, is one of the many advocates for the abortion bill.

"Despite the failure of that bill in Parliament to be tabled, we still see high numbers of cases of unsafe abortion. So we still feel that there is that gap in terms of policy because our health system is still failing to address those issues, so as stakeholders, we are still discussing how we can approach policy-makers so that they realize the need to review the policy," Kolovi said.

George Jobe, a health activist in Malawi, emphasized the need for emergency pills to be more widely available, especially in hard-to-reach areas.

"What is happening at the moment means that our youth are missing some services so we would want to recommend this as a short-term activity to the government, especially the Ministry of Health, to ensure that emergency pills are available in our health facilities, including in hard-to-reach areas," said Jobe.

A joint study by the College of Medicine and the US-based Guttmacher Institute found that over 140,000 illegal backstreet abortions take place in Malawi every year, with 12,000 resulting in death.

The need for safe and accessible abortion services in Malawi remains a critical issue for women and advocates alike.