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Study quantifies problem of abortion in the region.


 Findings of a multicenter study that was discussed during the 1993 Health Ministers' Conference showed that about 30% of maternal deaths in east, central, and southern Africa were associated with complications of unsafe abortion. The Commonwealth Regional Health Community Secretariat in collaboration with the Support for Analysis and Research in Africa, a project funded by USAID and the Johns Hopkins Program on Training in Reproductive Health, has coordinated a study that will help guide the development of better policies on unsafe abortion. One phase involved the collection and analysis of all published and unpublished information from computer data bases dealing with the problem. The other phase involved interviews with health care workers, patients, and managers of health care facilities in Zambia, Malawi, and Uganda. In each of the 3 countries primary data was collected from a tertiary care hospital in the capital city, a provincial hospital, and 2 rural district hospitals. The results of the primary data component showed that services for the prevention of unwanted pregnancy and treatment of complications of abortion in this region are inadequate. Unsafe abortion was also a major public health problem in the region, costing national governments a lot of resources. Findings revealed that unsafe abortion is an enormous public health problem with staggering consequences for women and the health care system, which spend an inordinate amount of money, time, and other resources to treat the consequences of unsafe abortion. Complications leading to acute and chronic injuries and sometimes death, as a result of unsafe abortion, affect women at the prime of their lives. Postabortion family planning services, health care facilities, and counseling are lacking. The Recommendations and Policy Implications of the study will be discussed by the 22nd Conference of Health Ministers with a view to developing specific actions to avert the problem.
