Population Control: Indian women die after mass Sterilization in Government-run Camp
    
    
Eight women have died in India and dozens more are in hospital, with 10 in a critical condition, after a state-run mass sterilisation campaign went tragically wrong.
More than 80 women underwent surgery for laparoscopic tubectomies at a free government-run camp in the central state of Chhattisgarh on Saturday. Of these, about 60 fell ill shortly afterwards, officials in the state said.
Such camps are held regularly across India as part of a long-running effort to control the emerging economic power’s booming population.
“Reports of a drop in pulse, vomiting and other ailments started pouring in on Monday from the women who underwent surgery,” Sonmani Borah, the commissioner for Bilaspur district where the camp was held, told AFP news agency. “Since Monday eight women have died and 64 are in various hospitals.”
Four doctors have been suspended and police have registered a criminal complaint. Television footage showed women on stretchers being rushed into hospital with anxious relatives by their side.
No government has successfully formulated policies to manage India’s population growth which stands at 1.6% a year, down from a high of about 2.3% in the 1970s.
The UN has expressed concern at the deaths. “If the facts are confirmed, then a grave human tragedy has occurred,” said Kate Gilmore, deputy executive director of the UN Population Fund. “Where there is deviation from clinical standards, there must be consequences.”
source:guardianUK