Essay On Unsafe Abortion

Unsafe abortions accounts for around 13% of maternal mortality every year globally and one quarter of those who survive suffers from long term health complications and has reduced quality of life, many of which occur in developing countries (1). According to WHO, the global and regional annual incidence of and mortality from unsafe abortions show that Africa has the highest risk of dying from unsafe abortion, with a ratio of 680 deaths per 100 000 abortions (a rate of 1 in 150), followed by Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe with the lowest risk of 1 in 1900 (2). Morbidity due to complications such as bleeding, sepsis, peritonitis, and injury to the cervical, vagina, uterus, and abdominal organs, increased risk of ectopic pregnancy,

The fear of religious and cultural views and social stigma towards unwanted pregnancies, may push women, especially the adolescents and the poor, to avoid seeking legal and safe abortion in the country’s public hospitals or clinics to seek cheaper but inexperienced practitioners who uses dangerous processes in a non-sterile environment with inappropriate equipment. This religious fear and social stigma will also further prevent women seeking better quality post-abortion care should they experience complications from the earlier unsafe abortion procedure (2).

3) Poor service delivery systems that integrate safe abortion and post-abortion care is another major issue that push women towards unsafe abortions (5). There is a need to decentralize health institutes with integrated abortion related services to rural areas for population in need of the service to be able to access them.

Options and Recommendations

From a public health perspective, reducing unsafe abortion associated mortality and morbidity in Africa can be achieved through a three-prong approach - primary, secondary and tertiary prevention