Karonga District Hospital registers 186 abortions
Karonga District Hospital safe motherhood coordinator Joseph Kasililika has expressed concern over the high number of abortions cases registered in three months this year.
Speaking on Wednesday during a meeting with Parliamentary Health Committee members in the district, he said from April to July this year, the district has registered 186 cases of abortion.
Kasililika said: “It is difficult to establish the causes of the abortions, but we strongly feel that three quarters of them are induced with the ultimate goal of getting rid of the pregnancy.
“It has also been found that young women and girls seek medication in private clinics and from elder women in the village. So by the time they start bleeding, it’s when they rush to us for post-abortal care.”
He said young women who visit the hospital for post abortal care are found with sticks in their reproductive tract which they use to abort.
He also said most women are found with sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis, adding that most of them are married women.
“As a district hospital, it has been a challenge to reach the community to educate them on the dangers of unsafe abortions,” he said.
Ipas Malawi coordinator Chancy Mwalubunju, who accompanied the committee members, said there is need to intensify sexual reproductive health awareness among the youth in the district.
On her part, Karonga district gender officer Martha Kalumbi asked authorities to review some of the laws that prevent women from accessing safe abortion.
