Govt to crack whip on erring pvt hospitals

Hyderabad: The State government is mulling issuing guidelines to private hospitals to stop unscrupulous hysterectomies.
Sources in the State Medical and Health Department said a large number of women in the age group of 20-25 had fallen victims to the hysterectomy procedure.

Highlights:

• Health Department mulling to bring a policy to contain indiscriminate hysterectomy surgeries in private sector
• The procedure affects hormonal balance
• Government to launch a mass awareness campaign

Speaking to The Hans India, a senior official from the Health Department said increasing number of women were undergoing the procedure in the State. This is in addition to the disturbing trend of 74.9 per cent of women undergoing Caesarean Section or C-section as against 10 to 15 per cent benchmark fixed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Further, in case of C-sections, it was the preference of women and their family members opting not to undergo normal deliveries and asking for C-sections. To arrest this tendency, the State Health Department has been keeping a tab on these surgical procedures being carried out in the private hospitals. Besides, the department had been trying to create awareness and encouraging institutional deliveries in government hospitals.

It was during these efforts that the feedback from the field level staff pointing to the growing number of cases of hysterectomy.Lack of awareness and fear of complications during delivery are the two issues driving the women from the rural areas to undergo this surgical procedure. And, in most of the cases these cases are going unreported.

But, “preliminary estimates by Health Department have identified the number of cases of hysterectomy are on the rise in the private hospitals. The State Health Minister C Laxma Reddy had recently held a meeting with the senior officials of the department on the steps to be taken to check the menace.”

The official said the main focus was to give guidelines to clamp down on the unnecessary and avoidable hysterectomy procedures in private hospitals. The meeting had discussed on how women of childbearing age from rural areas were approaching the local doctors, mostly Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) with the complaints.The women were scared of complications when some symptoms appear. The local doctors are guiding them to private hospital for better treatment, the officials pointed out.

In sharp contrast to the practice being adopted by the private hospitals, doctors in government hospitals are discourage the hysterectomy procedures and performing only as a last resort. “The procedure affects hormonal balance and will have an impact on the overall health of women for the rest of their lives,” officials said.

It was against this backdrop that the government has decided to launch a mass awareness campaign among the women in the villages. In addition to it, there is a simple test that costs only Rs 10 to figure out whether the women has any adverse medical condition, which could be done at Primary Health Centres (PHCs) or even by providing training to Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANMs) working at village level as health workers. However, a final decision is yet to be arrived on the policy, the official said.

By V R C Phaniharan