NEW DELHI: Almost three out of every four women (73 per cent) in India who undergo abortion take the help of a pharmacist or an informal vendor, according to a study.
Medical methods using the drugs recommended by the World Health Organization account for four in five abortions in India. Yet, they are not readily available at public health facilities and women have to resort to buying them from a chemist, the report said.
The first national study of the incidence of abortion and unintended pregnancy that accounted for 2015 was done by International Institute of Population Sciences and the New York-based Guttmacher Institute.
Overall, 12.7 million (81 per cent) abortions were medication abortions, 2.2 million (14 per cent) abortions were surgical, and 0·8 million (5 per cent) abortions were done through other methods that were probably unsafe.
Vinoj Manning, Executive Director IPAS Development Foundation said, “While continuing the efforts to strengthen public and private health system to provide abortion care to women in line with the provisions of the law and national guidelines, we need to ensure that women who self-use MA have access to correct information and systems for supportive care including identifying danger signs, access to health facilities for post-abortion care (if required) and post-abortion contraception.”
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