After Beed mass hysterectomy cases: Panel wants check-ups, health cards for migrant sugarcane cutters

The probe committee formed to investigate numerous cases of hysterectomy found largely among sugarcane migrant labourers from Beed district of Marathwada has recommended

The probe committee formed to investigate numerous cases of hysterectomy found largely among sugarcane migrant labourers from Beed district of Marathwada has recommended a slew of measures to tackle this social distress.

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The seven-member committee, including three women legislators, three experts and public health secretary, submitted its report to the health department on Wednesday. It called for issuance of health cards among the migrant women workers population to facilitate regular medical check-ups, a standard operating procedure (SOP) for surgeons before conducting such procedures and a monthly report of such operations.

The committee was set up in June this year after it was reported that hundreds of women were undergoing hysterectomy just to avoid loss of daily wages. Hysterectomy is a medical procedure to remove uterus. The reasons could be cancer, fibroids, endometriosis or abnormal vaginal bleeding. Doctors advice the surgical operation if there is no medication or if alternative line of treatment do not work.

A majority of these cases were of women sugarcane cutters, a migrant labour force, that hail largely from Beed district. Every year, sugarcane cutters migrate to western Maharashtra, Karnataka during the cane-cutting season after Diwali for nearly six months to work in sugarcane fields. The women were opting for this procedure given the harsh conditions of work on the fields, poor amenities and cane contractors’ refusal to give breaks to menstruating women.

Shiv Sena legislator, Neelam Gorhe, who headed this committee said, “The health minister has already assured us that they will start implementing the recommendations made by the committee. We will constitute a committee of sugarcane factory managers, health officers and Zilla Parishad health officers to coordinate and resolve any issues related to providing health facilities to these women.”

“Medical check-ups should be conducted of the women working as cane cutters in these areas. The first check-up should be conducted before they are migrate to other districts and then after their return to the home district. To make this possible the state public health department should issue health cards to all these cane cutters. On field check-ups need to be conducted by the primary health centres,” says the report.

The committee has also suggested that the family of cane cutters should be given six month ration in advance so that they cannot be forced to work on unfair conditions. It has made other recommendations related to providing basic amenities to the women working as cane cutters.

The report also said that the department should formulate a standard operating procedure (SOP) for conducting hysterectomies. The report has recommended monthly check of this medical procedure by district civil surgeons. “All the private surgeons should be asked to send monthly reports to the civil surgeons, in relation to hysterectomy operations conducted in a particular month,’’ the report states.

“With the monthly report, the district civil surgeon will be able to monitor if the private surgeons are following SOP or not based on which action can be taken against them,” said a senior officer from the health department.

To make people aware the side effects of hysterectomy, the public health minister Eknath Shinde directed the officials to put up a notice board at all hospitals in each district, said an official.