Dagi Kimani
17 April 2007
Nairobi — COMPLICATIONS FROM UNSAFE abortion are the single biggest contributor to gynaecological emergencies in Kenya, a new study says. According to the study, conducted at the Kakamega Provincial General Hospital in western Kenya, nearly half of the patients reporting to the institution with life-threatening gynaecological emergencies are teenagers of about 17.
Abortion accounts for 43 per cent of all cases admitted with acute gynaecological conditions, a report on the study appearing in the latest issue of The East African Medical Journal (EAMJ) says.
Abortion is the most common ailment with its complications accounting for the longest hospital stay, compared with other acute gynaecological conditions.
An average 91 bed-hours are required to treat a patient suffering from the complications of unsafe abortion, compared with 39 hours for patients reporting with other gynaeocological problems.
The Kakamega study involved 400 women, and was carried out by researchers from the University of Nairobi, led by Dr P.M Ndavi, a lecturer at the institution's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Apart from the immediate complications of abortion, the other leading causes of emergency admissions were found to be inflammatory disease (24 per cent), pelvic abcess (10 per cent) and ectopic pregnancies (8 per cent).
According to the study, the majority of patients seen in Kakamega were young and impoverished, usually from rural areas. Most had less than two children. Although up to 67 per cent of the women had a primary school education, 87 per cent were unemployed.
ANOTHER STUDY AT THE KENYATta National Hospital had earlier shown that up to 60 per cent of all gynaecological emergencies were similarly a result of unsafe abortions. Significantly, 53 per cent of the abortions treated there had also been procured by girls below 14.
Another study at the Nyahururu District Hospital in central Kenya also established that up to 87 per cent of all emergency gynaeocological admissions there were a result of complications from abortion.
All three studies established that most cases reached the hospital late.
This situation can only be addressed by providing stronger community-based healthcare and referral systems, and better transport infrastructure for rural areas, say the researchers involved in the Kakamega study.
Abortion is illegal in Kenya and many young women resort to backstreet abortions, usually in unhygienic circumstances.
Apart from causing death, such abortions can lead to life-long complications such as a perforated uterus, infections, ectopic pregnancies and infertility.
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