To mark International Safe Abortion Day on Tuesday 28 September 2021, DKT WomanCare held a roundtable discussion exploring the use of Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) in South Africa.
The session, in line with this year’s theme ‘Safe abortion is essential healthcare’, had speakers engaging audiences on demystifying MVA as a key component of abortion care. Our experts spotlighted the impact of Covid-19 on abortion services in South Africa and the advantages of the Ipas MVA method during the pandemic. #InternationalSafeAbortionDay #SafeAbortion4All
On 28 September, the morning session was to sensitise new audiences, mainly young women, on the use of MVA as part of abortion care. This conversation focused on demystifying and dismantling the fear factor associated with MVA and included a demonstration of the use of MVA.
The afternoon session provided more technical information, with a focus on the use of MVA in abortion care, especially for healthcare providers. It also included a demonstration of the use of MVA.
The speakers were: Prof Eddie Mhlanga, abortion expert, trainer and SRHR activist, who recently retired as Provincial Specialist of Obs/Gyn for the Department of Health of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa; Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health and founder of Disa Health Care Clinic; Caroline Mbi-Njifor, Ipas Country Director, South Africa; and as moderator Pontcho Pilane, a communications consultant, journalist, editor, and media lecturer and trainer.