Assam government is training medical officers and nursing staff on comprehensive abortion care in different districts to ensure women have access to safe abortion by trained medical staff.
The state government has set up centres in 23 districts where 65 gynaecologists are engaged in imparting training to medical officers (MBBS doctors) and nursing staff.
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Doctors are trained for 12 days, while nurses have a shorter training duration of six day. Around 426 doctors have been trained under the programme.
Ipas Development Foundation, a global organization, is providing technical support to Assam government in this programme . Maternal mortality rate in Assam is 300 per 1 lakh live births and 8 per cent of the maternal deaths occur due to unsafe abortions.
“The comprehensive abortion care is a programme that offers abortion services to women in a medical set-up by trained personnel in a hygienic atmosphere. Most women hesitate to openly seek medical help for undergoing abortion and instead go to quacks, who are not trained. As such, if during abortion, the foetus is not expelled completely from the body, it may result in infections and bleeding that may lead to the death of a woman. It is very important that a woman undergoes the procedure in the care of trained staff,” said K Zaman, consultant, maternal health, National Health Mission, Assam, reports TOI.
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“Under this programme, a woman is also provided counselling on post abortion family planning so that she can avoid unwanted pregnancies in future. Before undergoing the procedure, doctors also ask the woman if she prefers a surgical procedure or pills. Pills can be prescribed only in the early stages of pregnancy, ” said Zaman.