Thousands of Indian women are having their wombs removed in operation that compaiigners say are unnecessary and are performed only to make money by unscrupulous private doctors. Sunita a 25-year old girl in an Indian village visited clinic because she had heavy bleeding during menstuation. She said doctor did an ultrasound and said she may develop a cancer. He rushed Sunita into having a hysterectomy the same day. Though she was reluctant to undergo surgery without the consultation of her husband but doctor said it was urgent and sent her to operation just hours later. Even after two years of surgery Sunita still feels weak and it is hard for her to look after her children. The doctors usually charge $200 for the operation which is difficult for them to arrange with out selling their cattles or other assets. The owner of a private clinic when asked how could he daignose a pre-cancerous or cancerous growth on the basis of an ultrasound scan, he admitteed that he sometimes did not do biopsies before removing the uterus, only afterwards. When the removed uterus- or any other biopsy tissue- has been destroyed, it becomes hard to prove that operation was not justified. The women visiting his clinic are advised to have hysterectomies after suffering from symptoms such as heavy periods and period pain, bladder infection or backache. Reports from many states like Rajasthan, Bihar, Chattisgarh and Andra Pradesh suggest that an extra ordinary high number of women are having their uteruses removed, including many below the age of 40. Dr Gupta, of health Charity, a local partner of Oxfam, is one of many activists convinced that some private doctors are engaging in bnlatant malpractice. "People say that in some places there are whole district without uteruses", He said. tHis seems that private doctors see this opportunity to make fgast buck. While in UK, the vast majority of hysterectomy involve the women between the age of 40 and 50. It is rare for a women in the age of 20 and 30 to have one.
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