The story so far: In 2020, a study on Maharashtra’s cane cutters identified a widening blind spot in women’s health: the unchecked rise of hysterectomies. Laws regulating private clinics were poorly implemented, awareness about the procedure of uterus removal was dismal, gynaecological services were absent and no standard protocols existed, the authors noted.
The problems remain the same three years later. Half of the women reportedly go through hysterectomies before they turn 35, per National Family Health Survey-5 data. The Union Health Ministry recently urged State Governments to audit hysterectomy trends in public and private hospitals, in response to a Supreme Court petition arguing that women from marginalised locations are at risk of unjustified hysterectomies for economic gains and exploitation. The top Court last month also gave a three-month deadline to States and Union Territories, directing them to implement these Health Ministry guidelines. “There has been a serious violation of the fundamental rights of the women who underwent unnecessary hysterectomies,” the judgment said.
Somya Gupta, a Delhi-based gynaecologist, says the intervention is a “welcome step”, adding that a hysterectomy “should be a last resort when you can’t treat something with medicine”.
