Kenneth Juma

Thesis title

Assessing the availability and quality of post-abortion care in select sub-Saharan Africa countries

Description of PhD Project

Abortions are mostly unsafe in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), resulting in severe complications that need treatment in public health facilities. Post-abortion care is meant to treat abortion-related complications, prevent unintended pregnancies, repeat-abortions and maternal deaths. Many women in the region face difficulties while seeking post-abortion care and many SSA countries still struggle to avail quality post-abortion care services. There is limited robust data and evidence on the availability and quality of post-abortion care in the region. My PhD work will assess the quality of post-abortion care based on the availability and readiness of health facilities to deliver post-abortion care and experiences of patient seeking the service.

Supervisors

Professor Meghan Bohren

Dr Mridula Shankar

Biography

Kenneth has a public health and epidemiology background with interest in sexual, reproductive, maternal and adolescent health research. Prior to his doctoral studies, he led national studies to estimate the incidence of unintended pregnancies and abortion in Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Liberia as part of a large multi-country and multi-year research and advocacy program at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), Nairobi, Kenya.

He has also coordinated a multi-country survey to assess the quality of post-abortion care in Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Nigeria. He has a Master in Public Health in Disaster Settings from the University of Oviedo (Spain), an MSc. in Epidemiology from the University of Buea (Cameroon), and an undergraduate degree in Microbiology and Biotechnology from the University of Nairobi.

Funding/scholarships

Human Rights Scholarship

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