BANGALORE: “Unsafe abortion is the leading cause of maternal mortality in our country and most of these deaths are preventable,” gynaecologist Dr Padmini Prasad said. She was speaking at an orientation programme on ‘Safe Abortion for Chemists and Druggists’ organised to create awareness on safe abortion among chemists and druggists, on Tuesday. The programme, which was jointly organised by Family Planning Association of India (FPA) and Population Service International (PSI), witnessed the participation of various members of chemist and druggists association who were warned of the misuse of contraceptive pills sold over the counter.With just less than 50 per cent of contraceptive usage, majority of these pregnancies are unplanned. The main reasons, attributed by Dr Prasad, are the lack of awareness, inaccessibility of information, hospitals, poverty and illiteracy. She said that most of these vulnerable women end up consulting quacks to seek unsafe abortions.“Nearly four to six percent of illegal abortions are happening for every legal abortion in our country,” she added.“Buying emergency pills from the chemists has become very common and many prefer it as an alternative to regular contraception which is not a good a practise,” she added.The association members were also told that medical abortion drugs should not be sold over the counter. K S Anantha Subba Rao, president-FPA India, spoke to the members to make efforts so as to avoid unsafe abortion deaths and guide them to visit hospitals.
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