Births in health facilities decreased in 45 percent of countries between November and December 2021 compared to the period before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The disruption of essential health services caused by the new coronavirus pandemic is being felt acutely. As the world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, a new analysis by the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that women’s health services are far from fully restored, with 40 percent of African countries reporting disruptions in sexual and reproductive health services, as well as in maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health services.
The WHO global survey on the continuity of essential health services during the Covid-19 pandemic, conducted between November and December 2021, showed that the majority of the 36 African countries that provided complete data reported up to 25 percent disruption in services. The magnitude of disruptions remained largely the same compared to the first quarter of 2021.
Another survey conducted by WHO in 11 African countries indicated that the number of maternal deaths reported at health facilities in six of the 11 target countries increased by an average of 16 percent between February and May 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.
This figure declined slightly to 11 percent in 2021. However, the proportion is likely to be much higher because maternal deaths most often occur at home and not in health facilities. In addition, the data show that births in health facilities decreased in 45 percent of countries between November and December 2021 compared with the pre-pandemic period.
“After two years of the pandemic, women continue to pay a heavy price for Covid-19. Mothers and daughters in Africa are struggling to access the health care they need. The disruption caused by the pandemic will affect women for many years to come,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
She said countries must look beyond short-term measures to bring services back to pre-pandemic levels and make major investments in building stronger systems that can withstand health emergencies while ensuring continuity of key services.
During the pandemic, women and girls face an increased risk of sexual violence due to lockdowns, economic uncertainty, reduced access to essential health services and support, and increased household stress.
Globally, according to the latest analysis in 2021, WHO estimates that 245 million women and girls over the age of 15 experience sexual and/or physical violence by an intimate partner each year.
Unfortunately, in Africa, as a result of the pandemic, services for women who have experienced sexual violence declined in 56 percent of countries between November and December 2021 compared to the pre-pandemic period.
These disruptions also hampered the use of essential reproductive health supplies. Between June and September 2021, contraceptive use declined in 48 percent of countries, according to a WHO rapid survey of 21 African countries.
The number of teenage pregnancies has also increased in some countries. According to a 2021 report in the British Medical Journal, secondary school girls who were out of school for six months because of Covid-19 lockdown in Kenya were twice as likely to become pregnant and three times as likely to drop out of school as those who had graduated just before the pandemic.
In South Africa, a study conducted by the Medical Research Council in five provinces showed that teenage pregnancies have increased by 60 percent since the beginning of the pandemic.
TE/lb/abj/APA