Pemba girl survives illegal abortion

— A 14-year-old school girl of Pemba Primary School has survived death when the placenta, which got stuck after an illegal abortion she conducted at home, was removed by doctors at Pemba Community Health Centre where the mobile hospital outreach team had set up camp.

And Doctor Robinson Mwewa, who is the mobile hospital outreach team leader, told ZANIS in an interview that the girl aborted at home and when she was brought to the mobile hospital, the condition was serious but the doctors were able to attend to her by removing her placenta manually.

The mother of the girl, Florence Mbala, thanked the government for the provision of the mobile hospital services through which her daughter’s life was saved.

Ms Mbala told ZANIS in interview that she did not know that her daughter was pregnant and at the time the incident happened.

She said she was in Mazabuka for business when her daughter conducted the abortion and was only alerted by neighbours who phoned to inform her that her daughter was in a serious condition and was bleeding excessively.

Meanwhile, the turnout of patients who came to access the mobile hospital health services pleased Dr Mwewa and his team.

Dr Mwewa said various surgical operations were also conducted and the most common problems identified were hernias and thyroid abnormalities, while dental and eye problems were among other problems attended to.

“I am happy that women turnout in numbers to access cervical cancer screening but so far we have more negative results than positives,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pemba District Community Medical Officer, Brian Habasimbi, said the district has benefited tremendously from the mobile hospital services considering the fact that Pemba did not have a hospital.

Dr Habasimbi said patients with serious health problems were being evacuated to either Choma General Hospital or Monze.

“You see their presence was able to accommodate a lot of services we are not able to offer here as people with different ailments were able to be seen; we would have loved to have them here longer to help those who are not able to pay for medical services,” he said.