The expert, Thokozani Mtonda who works as a post abortion care Coordinator at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, says currently most girls who are outside marriage in the country are contraceptive methods for fear of compromising their fertility which is not the case.

"The development ends up compelling them to go for unsafe abortion once they get unwanted pregnancies. This is exposing a lot of girls to various life risks in the country", said Mtonda.

Mtonda made the remarks on Tuesday in Chiradzulu at a stakeholder’s engagement which the Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM) organised on the side-lines of an end of a safe abortion advocacy campaign the organization has been implementing in the district.

FPAM programs Manager, Gerald Maulidi expressed optimism that their six months advocacy campaign implemented in the areas of Traditional Authority’s Mpunga and Ntchema in the district has helped to create awareness and demand for safe abortion.

The current laws in the country prohibits abortion unless when the life of the mother is at risk with both those who solicit and aid abortion being liable for seven and six years imprisonment.

The Ministry of Health study in 2009 found that unsafe abortion contributes to about 17 percent of maternal deaths in the country a development which necessitated for a review of the abortion law in 2013.

However, a bill drafted for the provision of safe abortion in the country is yet to be tabled in parliament.