Marie Stopes Papua New Guinea, the country’s largest provider of family planning and sexual and reproductive health services, is calling for more to be done to eliminate unsafe abortion in PNG.
“Last week, we read with sadness the news about a young lady, only sixteen years old, who lost her life because of an unplanned pregnancy. We send our deepest sympathies to the family, friends and community affected by this terrible tragedy,” said MSPNG Country Director, Dr David Ayres.
“Unfortunately, this is not the first time a young woman has died because of an unplanned pregnancy in PNG, and it won’t be the last.”
Globally, approximately 121 million unplanned pregnancies occur each year, 73 million of them end in abortion, and 22,000 of those will result in death, due to unsafe practices. At least 10 million of the unplanned pregnancies are among adolescents aged 15-19.
“In some countries, abortion is legal. In others it is legally restricted. Some societies have quite liberal views of abortion, while others frown upon it,” Dr Ayres said. “What we know, however, from the available data, is that women around the world will seek out abortion services regardless of the legal situation, regardless of what society thinks about it, and regardless of prevailing cultural and religious beliefs.”
“And what we also know, from the data, is that when abortion takes place in a restricted environment, it is often unsafe. This is what is happening in PNG.”
“What we saw last week is the result of an unplanned pregnancy which led to an unsafe abortion. As Dr Yockopua suggested last week, the black market for misoprostol is one part of the problem. People resorting to traditional herbal or other dangerous solutions is another part of the problem.”
“Because of lack of understanding, and because of stigma, many women who experience complications from unsafe abortion do not seek medical attention until it is too late.”
Marie Stopes PNG is particularly concerned about the increasing number of women who are coming to MSPNG clinics after attempting to end an unplanned pregnancy with self-administered misoprostol.
“The medication is being sold without prescription “on the street” or “under the counter” to young women who are provided with little or no support about how to administer it or what to look out for,” Dr Ayres said. “They listen to their friends or do a Google search. When things don’t go to plan, the consequences can be dire. Best case scenario is they come to our clinic so we can provide them with post abortion care. The worst-case scenario is the outcome we saw last week.”
“Misoprostol has many life-saving uses, including in the treatment of miscarriages, for post-partum haemorrhage, and in those situations where medical abortions are necessary.”
Even though Misoprostol is much safer than traditional abortion practices, MSPNG is encouraging the appropriate authorities to investigate and address the Misoprostol black market. “We believe, from the anecdotal evidence at our clinics, that the illegal sale of Miso is a growing problem,” Dr Ayres said.
Unsafe abortion practices in PNG will likely continue to result in the deaths of young women throughout the country, unless further work is done to prevent unplanned pregnancies.
Dr Ayres encouraged people to access family planning. “Last week, Professor Mola said his best advice was to plan every pregnancy carefully and use family planning.”
“We fully support that. At MSPNG we are working tirelessly to provide family planning to everyone who wants it, irrespective of their age, marital status, or any other factor. We know that by increasing the uptake of family planning, we are reducing unplanned pregnancies, and ultimately contributing to saving lives.”