New Delhi: The Union health ministry has asked all states to send the status of hysterectomies conducted in private and public hospitals — a year after it released comprehensive guidelines on the procedure, which is the surgical removal of the uterus.
In India, there is increasing concern about patterns of hysterectomy at a population level, the Centre said last year, adding that community-based studies have consistently found rising hysterectomy rates among young women, between 28 and 36 years.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote to states on 28 April, asking them to undertake compulsory audits for all hysterectomies, as is being done for maternal mortality in all healthcare institutions, both public and private.
“This matter is regarding prevention of unnecessary and often unjustified hysterectomies performed by certain medical institutions,” the letter said, adding, “This issue is being closely monitored by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.”
The Centre has also asked states to share the hysterectomy status and data pre- and post-implementation of last year’s guidelines in order to prevent unnecessary hysterectomies.
The guidelines revealed the prevalence of hysterectomy was 3.6 per cent among women 30 to 39 years of age and 9.2 per cent among those who were between 40 and 49, according to National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16) estimates.
The median age of hysterectomy was 37 years (among women who were 40 to 49 years at the time of survey) and two-thirds of procedures were conducted in private facilities.
Prevalence varied greatly across states, with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana recording 20 to 23 per in the age group 40 to 49. This was close to high-income countries — yet at a considerably low median age.
“In developed countries, hysterectomy is typically conducted among premenopausal women above the age 45 years,” the guidelines had said.
The Supreme Court has been hearing a public interest litigation on unnecessary hysterectomies since 2013 and in April had asked states to follow the central guidelines issued last year.
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