Get a solution to maternal mortality - civil society

Civil society organisations want the funds for health especially the reproductive health upped to address the challenges of increased maternal mortality due to unsafe abortions.

Teenage school going girls continue to die due to lack of access to contraceptives in remote districts such as Napak,Moroto, Katakwi and Kapchorwa.

The 2015 Save the Children State of the World Mothers Report of 2015 that put Uganda among the worst places for mothers in the world further ranks Uganda 169 out of 175.

Dr. Charles Kiggundu, a leading gynaecologist consultant at Mulago hospital says that an unsafe abortion is still a big problem in Uganda. Abortion continues to be perceived as illegal so girls who become pregnant while still at school like Chelimo, end up using unsafe methods to end their pregnancy.

"With premarital sex very prevalent in rural areas, adolescents are particularly at risk for unintended pregnancies," said Kiggundu in one of the workshops in reproductive health held in Kampala.

According to statistics, at-least 500,000 pregnancies out of the 2.7 million that are recorded in Uganda annually end up in abortions, 70% unsafe abortions from quarks and un trained medical personnel leading to over 7,000 deaths. Maternal mortality due to abortion accounts for 26% of the deaths in Uganda.

The issue of unintended pregnancy is common in Uganda, leading to high levels of unplanned births, unsafe abortions, and maternal injury and death. Since most pregnancies that end in abortion are unwanted, nearly all ill health and mortality resulting from unsafe abortion is preventable.

Records also indicate that out of the over 6,000 deaths that are reported every year due to pregnancy or childbirth, 1,200 of them are a result of unsafe abortion.

The lack of awareness regarding the use of contraceptives has left scores of mothers subjected to death.

Most girls in rural Uganda say that the lack of access to friendly youth reproductive services was hindering their performances in school.

Surprisingly, most of the health facilities in the district do not offer post abortion care services. And since the issue of abortion is very sensitive, the health service providers fear hence the resort to unsafe methods that endanger their lives.

Now with support from CEHURD, civil society organisations and community leaders want legislators to submit proposals in the floor of parliament to bring to an end this number of deaths.

Officials from the Ministry of Health do acknowledge that many Ugandan women are dying due to unsafe abortion.  Statistics from Mulago National Referral hospital shows that a million pregnancies registered in Uganda annually of unwanted or planned leading to unsafe abortion.

Community leaders in Teso and Karamoja region indicate that abortion due to unwanted pregnancies was paying a heavy toll on families and the communities.

"Government spends a lot of funds on post abortion treatment and care," said. Dr Otim Santos from Amuria. A study undertaken by the Guttmacher Institute, reported that it costs Uganda sh7.5b to treat complications from abortion within the public health system.