3 days ago
Maharashtra govt to set up vigilance cells to stop illegal uterus removals among cane cutters
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Pune: Maharashtra health minister Prakash Abitkar said on Tuesday the state would set up vigilance committees to check if hospitals or doctors were performing unnecessary and illegal hysterectomies on women.
The minister made the announcement after several press reports highlighted a growing number of such procedures being carried out among women sugar cane cutters in Beed. The meeting on Tuesday in Mumbai also involved state women's commission chairperson Chitra Wagh, who has urged the health department to look into the reports.
Maharashtra sugar commissioner Siddharam Salimath, who too attended the meeting, said: "New SOPs will be drafted and the issue has been brought under the purview of the health department.
The office of the sugar commissioner does not have any direct authority in the matter. But I have instructed all sugar mills in the state to ensure regular health checkups are carried out for cane cutters."
For years, there has been concern that women cane cutters, especially in Beed district, were getting their wombs removed to not lose out on daily wages. A 2018 survey of 200 women in Beed by the Maharashtra State Commission for Women revealed that 36% of them had undergone hysterectomy.
Another study in 2019 found that of 271 women, 21% had undergone hysterectomies. And both surveys found that nearly 85% of the procedures had been carried out at private hospitals.
Experts said the data overall suggested hysterectomies in Beed were 14 times higher than the national average of 3.2% (in 2019).
A week ago, there were more media reports alleging that a high number of hysterectomies had been carried out in 2024, to prevent women cane cutters from taking leaves during menstruation.
During the meeting, Abitkar asked officials to be more vigilant and ordered the setting up of a district-level committee to monitor complaints of illegal uterus removals, said a statement late on Tuesday.
A senior health department official who was part of the meeting said: "The committees at the district level will be similar to how PCPNDT committees work, to check illegal sex determination. The district-level committee will conduct random checks at private hospitals where a high number of hysterectomies have been performed.
They will work like a flying squad and will review each case to check if a hysterectomy was required or not.
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The official, who didn't want to be named, said such committees will be set up in nine Maharashtra districts, in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions. "If any hospital is found involved in malpractice, action will be initiated under the Bombay Nursing Act," the health department official said.
Dr Shilpa Naik, associate professor with Pune's BJ Medical College said early hysterectomies posed a lifetime risk for women. "An early hysterectomy means all symptoms of menopause, which are supposed to kick in later in life after the natural menopausal cycle, begin showing early. The protection a woman has thanks to her hormones will wear off too, making her more susceptible to cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular symptoms like strokes, genitourinary symptoms like urinary incontinence, fractures and hot flashes.
The ovaries will also stop functioning 2-3 years after the hysterectomy," Dr Naik said.
