New Delhi, July 7: India is going all out to publicize safe abortion practices.
For the first time, the Union health ministry has asked states to conduct a massive campaign popularizing safe abortion, besides informing women that the confidentiality clause will keep their identity secret.
The ministry has also identified 20,000 model health facilities across the country that will now be open for abortion service round the clock.
The National Rural Health Mission's (NRHM) Programme Implementation Plan (PIP) for 2012-13 of all states mentions the push required for first trimester safe abortion service.
The fund allocation of states will be cut, if such service isn't doled out free to all women.
NRHM mission director Anuradha Gupta told TOI that 8% of all maternal deaths are due to unsafe abortion.
India recorded 6.5 million abortions (of the total 10.5 million abortions in the south and central Asia region) in 2008 of which 66% were deemed unsafe.
The Guttmacher Institute recently said unsafe abortion has become rampant in India, with the region recording 200 deaths for every one lakh abortions.
Gupta said the ministry has sent guidelines on comprehensive abortion care to all the states which includes directions on how to counsel women before and after conducting an abortion.
"India has 1.75 lakh health facilities of which 20,000 are performing really well as far as making available the bouquet of maternal health services is concerned. We have mapped these facilities by name and have made them single-window delivery points. Now, they will provide abortion service 24x7," Gupta told TOI.
She added, "Doctors in these 20,000 facilities will be trained to conduct safe abortion and will be stocked with drugs and equipment needed to deal with unintended facilities. States have also been asked to carry out a massive publicity drive to inform women that abortion is legal in India."
Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad recently said that "safe abortion care has also been made an integral part of ASHA's orientation and training in order to equip them with the skills to create awareness on abortion issues in the women and the community and facilitate them in accessing services for safe abortion care."
Dr Gilda Sedgh from the Guttmacher Institute told TOI "Abortion is legal in India and the service is much safer that many other developing countries. But for some reason, women choosing to abort are not taking advantage of this liberal law. They are also getting abortion done in unsafe clinics. That's why a good measure of abortions in India are unsafe"
"There is a tremendous need for the country's family planning programme to spread awareness for safe abortion and also push for increased use of contraception and use of safe abortion services," she added. Dr Sedgh said 13% of all maternal deaths in the south and central Asia region is due to unsafe abortion.
Unsafe abortion is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a procedure for terminating a pregnancy that is performed by an individual lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards, or both.
The health ministry data suggests that the number of induced abortions has started to dip in India. However, in absolute numbers, India in 2008 saw 6.41 lakh abortions across 12510 institutions, approved to carry out Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP).
In 2009, the Family Welfare Statistics in India recorded 7.25 lakh MTPs in 2005, 7.21 lakh in 2006 and 6.82 lakh in 2007.
Going by the 2008 figures, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of MTPs at 89,194, followed by Tamil Nadu (63,875), Odisha (59,945), Assam (58,409) and Maharashtra (54,545). The other states with high abortion numbers include West Bengal (46,753), Haryana (31,126), Delhi (30,846), Rajasthan (29,292), Gujarat (27,837) and Bihar (24,149). The states with the lowest abortion figures are Daman and Diu (42) and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (94) and Goa (930).
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