MUMBAI: As many as 95 per cent hysterectomies, performed in Beed district in the year 2018 might be illegal or unethical, a government survey has suggested.
“Of the total 271 cases surveyed in Beed district during 2018 in, 72 were hysterectomies. In India, the standard hysterectomy rate is 3 while in Maharashtra it is just 2.5. In Beed last year it was 36, which is 14 times higher than the normal,” said Achyut Borgaonkar of the Maharashtra Mahila Hakka Parishad.
Five of the women’s organizations working among the sugar workers in Beed had organized a day-long seminar in Mumbai today to highlight the issue.
The Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch, Ekal Mahila Sanghatan, Jana Aarogya Abhiyan and Bharatiya mahila Federation, submitted a charter of demands to the Maharashtra government that include implementation of clinical establishment act and formation of a board for sugarcane workers so that their non-medical issues are addressed among other demands.
“The labor contractor gives advance and in turn, we have to work for almost over 12 hours a day to repay the money. Hefty interest that comes to around 50% per year is levied if we can’t repay the money, “ Sheela Waghmare, a sugarcane worker, said.
“This forces us to take up the work even if we don’t wish to,” said Waghmare, the distressed sugarcane worker said.“According to the latest survey, 85% of hysterectomies have been performed in private hospitals,” Borgaonkar added.
He further demanded that the institutions like Maharashtra Medical Association (MMA) or the Indian Medical Association (IMA) take a suo motu action in this case at the earliest.
Working conditions in the state’s vast sugarcane fields are very poor, which lead to some or the other gynecological problems and when they seek advice from the doctor they are mostly directed to get hysterectomy done, Borgaonkar told this newspaper.