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Cost of abortions in Zambia: a comparison of safe abortion and post abortion care

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  • Parmar, Divya
  • Leone, Tiziana
  • Coast, Ernestina
  • Murray, Susan Fairley
  • Hukin, Eleanor
  • Vwalika, Bellington

Abstract

Unsafe abortion is a significant but preventable cause of maternal mortality. Although induced abortion has been legal in Zambia since 1972, many women still face logistical, financial, social, and legal obstacles to access safe abortion services, and undergo unsafe abortion instead. This study provides the first estimates of costs of post abortion care (PAC) after an unsafe abortion and the cost of safe abortion in Zambia. In the absence of routinely collected data on abortions, we used multiple data sources: key informant interviews, medical records and hospital logbooks. We estimated the costs of providing safe abortion and PAC services at the University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka and then projected these costs to generate indicative cost estimates for Zambia. Due to unavailability of data on the actual number of safe abortions and PAC cases in Zambia, we used estimates from previous studies and from other similar countries, and checked the robustness of our estimates with sensitivity analyses. We found that PAC following an unsafe abortion can cost 2.5 times more than safe abortion care. The Zambian health system could save as much as US$0.4 million annually if those women currently treated for an unsafe abortion instead had a safe abortion.

Suggested Citation

  • Parmar, Divya & Leone, Tiziana & Coast, Ernestina & Murray, Susan Fairley & Hukin, Eleanor & Vwalika, Bellington, 2017. "Cost of abortions in Zambia: a comparison of safe abortion and post abortion care," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 63643, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:63643
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rossier, Clémentine & Guiella, George & Ouédraogo, Abdoulaye & Thiéba, Blandine, 2006. "Estimating clandestine abortion with the confidants method--results from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 254-266, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Haaland, Marte E.S. & Haukanes, Haldis & Zulu, Joseph Mumba & Moland, Karen Marie & Blystad, Astrid, 2020. "Silent politics and unknown numbers: Rural health bureaucrats and Zambian abortion policy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    2. Samantha R Lattof & Ernestina Coast & Yana van der Meulen Rodgers & Brittany Moore & Cheri Poss, 2020. "The mesoeconomics of abortion: A scoping review and analysis of the economic effects of abortion on health systems," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-25, November.
    3. Amani Thomas Mori & Peter Binyaruka & Peter Hangoma & Bjarne Robberstad & Ingvild Sandoy, 2020. "Patient and health system costs of managing pregnancy and birth-related complications in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Banke-Thomas, Aduragbemi & Aberjirinde, Ibukun-Oluwa & Ayomoh, Francis Ifeanyi & Banke-Thomas, Oluwasola & Eboreime, Ejemai Amaize & Ameh, Charles, 2020. "The cost of maternal health services in low-income and middle-income countries from a provider's perspective: a systematic review," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 104344, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Haaland, Marte E.S. & Mumba Zulu, Joseph & Moland, Karen Marie & Haukanes, Haldis & Astrid Blystad,, 2020. "When abortion becomes public - Everyday politics of reproduction in rural Zambia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    abortions; termination of pregnancy; Zambia; cost; health system;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook

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