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Region Five touts safe abortions
By Leon Suseran
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, has warned women who seek abortions that those procedures must take place under prescribed safe conditions set aside by the Ministry of Health. He was speaking to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Board sub- committee in Region Five.
Dr Shamdeo Persaud (centre) flanked by other members on the MTPB (Region 5)
The board was meeting to discuss plans for the upcoming anniversary of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act which was passed in June 1995 in Parliament. The meeting took place in the Region Five Boardroom, Fort Wellington, West Coast Berbice.
Government, in 1995, enacted the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and the Act determined the formation of an Advisory Board.
Persaud said that the Act “happens to be one of the landmark Acts in the Caribbean and world that really looks seriously at the issue of abortions and women’s health…Before then, even though women could have had a termination of pregnancy based on medical grounds only. In many different situations, the law was very loose and many persons took advantage. There were many dangerous applications to terminate pregnancy”.
He noted that many persons used objects such as bicycle spokes.
The Act stipulates that abortions can legally be done in Guyana but there are conditions that must be met. He noted that any abortion must be done by a qualified medical practitioner who is certified to conduct the procedure.
“The Act does not give the medex authority to terminate pregnancies but they are involved with doctors and they can apply any life-saving measure to a woman whose life can be in jeopardy in the pregnancy”.
He added that Act also requires the termination to take place in a safe place, “so it’s not any bottom house, or doctor’s office or room in a doctor’s office that would be used…It must be certified by the Chief Medical Officer as one that is safe and has a level of sterility, the right type of equipment, the staff that are trained and you have facilities in the event that you run into complications.”
Women who turn up to medical facilities in Guyana to terminate pregnancies should undergo a strict process whereby they are counseled and told about the pros and cons of such an act. Those women are also given 48 hours “to go back home, talk with her friends and family and the partner who has caused the pregnancy…to make that decision and when she returns, firmly making that decision, then the doctor will comply and do whatever is necessary”.
Whenever a termination needs to be done, either by choice or medical reasons, it must be done safely and in accordance with the law.
Several methods, he said, can be used to terminate a pregnancy. While some are safe, others are not, such as the one whereby a sharp instrument is used to scrape the mother’s womb. “More and more we are saying that is not such a safe method…there is another way called a manual vacuum extraction where we use very safe tools, with skilled professionals and a termination could be done in a healthy way; the mother goes home the same day and recovers completely and we counsel her”.
The law, he said, also requires a post- test counseling.
He said if the Act is applied carefully it would serve its purpose. He noted that currently, there are less abortions being performed at the various hospitals. “The Act has done most of what it has intended to do; make pregnancy safe and protect women’s health…but we have challenges”.
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