At least 168 pupils and students have illegally aborted in the last 12 months according to a report released by Gulu Regional Referral Hospital.
Akidi Christine Suzan, the Senior Nursing Officer and In charge Gyn ward at the Hospital says the pupils and students were brought with septic abortion cases.
According to Akidi, many of these cases were registered during the months of February and September 2020 when schools were closed following the outbreak of Coronavirus. Akidi adds that majority of the girls were aged between 15 and 26.
Abortion in Uganda is illegal unless performed by a licensed medical doctor in a situation where the woman’s life is deemed to be at risk. With women lacking access to safe and legal abortions, many of them turn to unsafe abortion practices, such as self-induced abortions.
