Dog Articles, Puppy Articles   Pet Articles | Free Dog Articles | Free Cat Articles

1 (1 votes)

Healthcare Prof:

5 (3 votes)

Article Opinions:1 posts
Properly trained auxiliary nurse midwives and nurses can offer early medical abortions* as safely and effectively as doctors in developing countries, concludes an Article published Online Initial in The Lancet. These findings could expand women’s access to secure abortion services in developing countries where unmet need is greatest, and support save the lives of some of the estimated 47 000 females worldwide who die as a result of unsafe abortions every single year.

Nearly all (98%) of the 22 million unsafe abortions every single year take place in developing countries. Despite early first-trimester medical abortion getting a safe and effective alternative to surgical abortion, it remains underused in several developing countries partly due to the fact only doctors are currently authorised to administer medical abortion services. Even so, midlevel health-care workers including midwives and nurses could have an crucial role in expanding access to low-cost, life-saving abortion services in developing countries where abortion is legally permitted under broad conditions or on request and doctors are scarce.

Dr IK Warriner from the World Well being Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland and colleagues designed a trial to establish regardless of whether medical abortions could be provided as safely and effectively by midlevel healthcare workers as doctors in Nepal.

Between April 2009 and March 2010, girls searching for early abortion from five rural district hospitals in Nepal were randomly assigned to get medical abortion by a midlevel healthcare worker (542) or a doctor (535 ladies).

The clinical outcomes had been similar with 97.3% complete abortions performed by midlevel healthcare workers and 96.1% by doctors, and no serious complications were recorded.

The authors say: “Appropriately trained providers can administer safe, low-technology medical abortion services for girls who might otherwise turn to unsafe abortion, exposing themselves to the risks of disabilities and death.”

In a Comment, Yap-Seng Chong from the National University of Singapore in Singapore and Eng-Kien Tan from The National University Hospital, Singapore point out: “For many routine but potentially life-saving medical services, the best health-care provider might not always be a doctor. Encounter, commitment, training, and, most essential, availability are often more crucial than is actually a medical qualification. As we begin the countdown to 2015, task-shifting to midlevel health-care providers along with the upgrading of their skills to offer safer care in pregnancy and reproductive health could be important to achievement of the fifth UN Millennium Development Aim.”

*Early first-trimester medical abortion is available up to 9 week’s of pregnancy and involves the administration of two sets of pills, an antiprogestagen (mifepristone) followed by a prostaglandin analogue (usually misoprostol).

Link to Article and Comment

Source
The Lancet