Officials from Blantyre District Health office say over 3,000 girls and women carried out unsafe abortions in Blantyre in the year 2022, four of whom died, renewing calls for legalisation of abortion in the country. The Blantyre Health Office says the figures represent the number of girls and women who went for post-abortion care in the city. (The implication is that there may be more who did not seek or have access to care.)
The statistics show that 60 cases involved girls in the 10-14 year age group, about 570 cases were in girls aged 15-19, 887 were in young women aged 20-24, 791 were women aged 25-29, at least 426 were aged 30-39 (the number is not included in the original report) and 266 were aged 40-49.
SOURCE: Nyasa Times, by Naomi Mkwanda, 31 May 2023 + PHOTO of Dr Francis Makiya. Dr Makiya is with the Ministry of Health as the District Medical Officer for Mwanza District and is currently studying for an MPhil in Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Africa at the University of Pretoria, see https://www.iddo.org/covid-19-dac/dr-francis-makiya.