Rapid uptake of early medical abortions in the Northern Territory: A family planning-based model.

BACKGROUND: Abortion law reform does not necessarily translate into services, especially for those in regional areas. Although abortion has been legal in the Northern Territory (NT) since 1974, prior to 2017 legislation change, early medical abortions (EMAs) were effectively prohibited in primary care. In July 2017, Family Planning Welfare Association of the Northern Territory (FPNT) was awarded funding to provide EMAs free of charge for Medicare eligible clients. AIMS: To describe the demographics and clinical outcomes of clients accessing the EMA service in the first 12 months after legislation change. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective audit of FPNT's Unplanned Pregnancy Database from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018 and analysis of the NT Government's Termination of Pregnancy 12 Month Data Report. RESULTS: Of 742 abortions in the NT in the first 12 months after legislation change, 426 were EMAs prescribed at FPNT. Eleven percent of these (47/426) were for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander women and 15% (64/426) were for women from Remote or Very Remote Australia. Outcomes were definitively documented for 326 (77%); 5% of these required further misoprostol and 99% had a complete abortion without surgical intervention. Eighty-six percent (281/326) commenced effective hormonal contraception following their EMA. CONCLUSIONS: Providing funding to a Family Planning service was effective in devolving the majority of abortions from tertiary to primary healthcare and increasing the use of effective contraception. Some women remain under-represented, particularly women from more remote areas of the NT. Further work is required to ensure equity of access to services for these women.

Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in the Kimberley: using hospitalisation data to find cases and describe trends.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiology of hospitalisations due to acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in the Kimberley region of Western Australia (WA) and use these data to improve completeness of the WA RHD Register. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of Kimberley regional hospitalisation data for hospitalisations coded as ARF/RHD from 01/07/2002 to 30/06/2012, with individual follow-up of those not on the register. Annual age-standardised hospitalisation rates were calculated to determine hospitalisation trend. RESULTS: There were 250 admissions among 193 individuals. Of these, 53 individuals (27%) with confirmed or probable ARF/RHD were not on the register. Males were less likely to be on the register (62% versus 79% of females, p<0.01), as were those hospitalised with ARF without heart involvement (68% versus 87% of other ARF diagnoses, p<0.01). ARF/RHD hospitalisation rates decreased by 8.8% per year (p<0.001, rate ratio = 0.91, 95%CI 0.87-0.96). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Using hospitalisation data is an effective method of identifying cases of ARF/RHD not currently on the register. This process could be undertaken for initial case finding in areas with newly established registers, or as regular quality assurance in areas with established register-based programs. Reasons for the observed decrease in hospitalisation rates remain unclear and warrant further investigation.