The rise in unsafe abortion cases in eastern Malawi districts and the xenophobic attacks in South Africa demonstrate the close relationship between social upheaval, migration, and cross-border public health issues. CSJ reports
The recent repatriation of Malawians from South Africa has brought unexpected challenges including the upsurge of women seeking abortion and postabortion care services.
Machinga District Hospital, which now treats about nine such cases daily—up from seven has reported this trend
The district’s Post Abortion Care (PAC) Coordinator Jacqueline Kaminyu told privately-owned Nation Newspaper that that some women, fearing the loss of their marriages, resorted to unsafe abortion methods after unexpectedly facing pregnancy, especially when their husbands also returned.
Between April and June this year, the district recorded 253 PAC cases, a slight increase from 246 during the same period last year.
This rise has raised concerns among health officials and community leaders.
Paramount Chief Kawinga called on traditional leaders to promote family planning awareness, noting that certain cultural practices discourage contraceptive use.
Meanwhile, Misheck Gondwe from the SRHR Alliance urged for reforms in Malawi’s abortion laws and better access to sexuality education and youth-friendly health services to protect women and girls from unsafe abortions.
Malawi has one of the world's most restrictive legal frameworks for abortion, tightly bound by the penal code while facing a high public incidence of clandestine procedures and significant maternal health challenges.
Under Malawi's Penal Code, abortion is restricted and those who seek abortion face long prison sentences.
Legally induced abortion is traditionally restricted to circumstances where it is necessary to save the pregnant woman's life. It is only as recent as last year that a landmark High Court ruling established that adolescent and minor survivors of sexual violence have a protected right to access safe abortion services.
Despite this ruling, many minors still struggle to access safe abortion as the Ministry of Health is dallying in publishing guidelines.
The Ministry of Health has on several occasions admitted that unsafe abortions are a public health burden , and as one way of addressing it, the ministry offers post-abortion care in all district health facilities.
Post-abortion care (PAC) in Malawi is an essential medical service integrated into public health facilities—including central and district hospitals and rural health centers—to treat complications from incomplete or unsafe abortions.