New study highlights impact of unsafe abortion in Kenya

Ipas’s Dr. Eunice Brookman-Amissah (right) talks with Dr. Job Obwaka of the AMKENI project (left) and Dr. James Nyikal of the Kenya Medical Association at the May 6th launch of a collaborative report on unsafe abortion in Kenya.

Results from a study conducted by several organizations in Kenya underscore the need for more effective action to prevent unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions, including by increasing the availability of contraception and legalizing abortion.

The study, results of which were released May 6^th at a day-long workshop in Nairobi, was undertaken by the Kenya Medical Association, the Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya (FIDA Kenya) and Ipas, with collaboration from the Kenyan Ministry of Health. Its purpose was to provide current information on the magnitude and consequences of abortion complications in Kenya and on the cost incurred in treating them, to inform national-level policy decisions.  

Although several studies in the past decade had yielded data about unsafe abortion, no previous study had taken a national perspective on the issue. With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, the researchers set out to fill that knowledge gap through a nationwide study, which took place during three weeks in 2002.

Carried out in 65 public health facilities across the country, the study uncovered very high rates of abortion-related complications, associated with a considerable cost burden to the health system and a particularly troubling toll on young women. For example:

• Based on their findings, researchers estimated that 20,000 women are hospitalized with abortion-related complications in the public health system alone each year. They further estimated that as many as 300,000 abortions occur in Kenya each year.
• Study data revealed that about 48% of abortions occurred in women aged 14 to 24 years; 57% of the women were from urban areas.
• During the three-week course of the study, 7 out of the 809 study participants with abortion complications died -- nearly 1 in 100.
• The total annual direct cost of treating complications of unsafe abortion in public hospitals was nearly $230,000 (18 million Kenyan shillings).

"Clearly this problem has received inadequate attention," said Dr. Eunice Brookman-Amissah, Ipas's Vice President for Africa. "The pervasive denial of the reality of unsafe abortion is taking a huge toll on the health and lives of women and girls all over the country, as well as on our public health system."

Researchers recommended a range of actions to address unsafe abortion, including better equipping district hospitals to manage its complications. In fact, the day the study report was released Kenyan Minister of Health Charity Ngilu announced government plans to purchase postabortion care kits, including manual vacuum aspirators, for public hospitals.

Other recommendations include:

• Training midlevel health care providers, including nurses and midwives, to offer abortion-related services, since they far outnumber doctors and are more accessible to most Kenyan women
• Addressing the special needs of youth for comprehensive reproductive-health information and services
• Improving family planning services, including those available to women who have undergone abortion
• Educating women about existing provisions for legal abortion, so that they can avail themselves of safe legal abortion to the full extent permitted by law, and
• Reviewing current abortion laws

"We now have ample evidence of the widespread impact of unsafe abortion in Kenya," said Brookman-Amissah. "Policymakers have the information they need to formulate effective policies to address this issue and thus to improve the lives not only of Kenyan women but also of their families and communities."

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258