Kenya is among eleven African countries with the highest
internet searches on abortion pills, a BBC analysis of Google searchers
showed.
Kenya’s position tracks after a global trend
where online searches for abortion pills have more than doubled over the
last decade—suggesting growing interest in do-it-yourself(DIY) abortion
in countries where abortion laws remain restrictive.
By
buying pills online and sharing medical advice through WhatsApp groups,
the BBC reports, women are increasingly turning to technology to
sidestep legal barriers to abortion. This is the modern face of the
so-called "DIY abortion".
An abortion pill, Misoprostol, is particularly popularly searched globally according to the BBC survey.
Search engines are commonly flooded with questions such as "How
to use Misoprostol", "Misoprostol price", "buy Misoprostol" and
"Misoprostol dosage".
Misoprostol is normally
considered a safe method of abortion when administered by a medical
professional, when it is used by an untrained person it poses risks.
The drug that retails at Sh150 a pill in various chemists is highly sought after by those seeking home abortions.
While
the drug is not sold over the counter in various reputable pharmacies
in Nairobi’s Central Business District it is still widely available in
other chemists.
The BBC notes that restrictive abortion laws and attendant stigmatization is a leading driver of unsafe abortions.
In
Kenya, abortion is only legal for emergency treatment or when the life
or health of the mother is in danger in the opinion of a trained health
professional.
That however has not stopped thousands of women who look for unsafe termination of pregnancies.
The
2012 Kenya Incidence and Complications of Unsafe Abortion study
estimated that 464,690 induced abortions were performed in 2012.
The
study also estimated that 157,762 women received care for complications
from induced and spontaneous abortions in health facilities public and
private in the same year.
The cost of unsafe abortions
is not limited to loss of life but also causes a huge dent in the
economy once the personnel, medications and medical supplies costs of
treating complications of unsafe abortion is factored in.
According
to a 2018 report by the Ministry of Health and African Population and
Health Research Center (APHRC) Kenya spent Sh533 million treating
complications of unsafe abortions in public health facilities
The
report indicates that an average cost of a typical treatment stood at
Sh4,943 Kenyan shillings. This cost varied from Sh3,264 for mild
complications and Sh4,362 for moderate complications to Sh 9,133 for
severe complications.
Most of the cost of treating
unsafe abortion patients in public health facilities in Kenya was
incurred in Rift Valley with Sh112 million spent and Western regions
Sh83 million.
The APHRC and Ministry of Health Report
also estimates that in level four hospitals a total of Sh 221 million is
channeled to treating unsafe abortions while 83 million spent in level
three.
Of the total amount spent,54 per cent of the total cost was spent in the treatment of severe complications.
The
report based on data from 128 public health facilities, shows that it
costs more to treat patients in Nairobi at Sh7,674 per person, than
anywhere else in the country. These differences may be due to the cadres
of professionals and choice of drug combinations in the management of
unsafe abortions at facility level.
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