ISLAMABAD, Oct 8: Nearly 900,000 induced abortions occur every year in the country, mostly performed by unskilled and untrained professionals using primitive methods.

Federal Secretary Health Tariq Farooq said this while speaking at the launching of a report on "National study on unwanted pregnancy and post-abortion complications in Pakistan" here on Friday.

The report was launched by the Population Council in collaboration with the Packard Foundation, WHO, Alan Guttmacher Institute, DFID and UNFPA. The official said of the 900,000 induced abortions, 200,000 ended with complications and this figure could be even higher as it did not take into consideration the number of women who did not come to the facility.

"This was indeed a sad reflection on the existing public and private health system of the country," he underlined. He also noted that the worst sufferers were the poor women because they did not have the means or will to seek an appropriate advice or help. There is an urgent need for the government to grapple with this issue in a comprehensive manner, he added.

The secretary health congratulated the Population Council and especially Dr Zeba Sathar, the Country Director of the Council, for having undertaken pioneering research in this area.

Tariq Farooq urged that there was need for launching large- scale advocacy programmes to raise awareness about the hazards of unsafe abortions. He also stressed provision of emergency obstetric and post-abortion care through all health outlets.

Secretary Population Welfare Shakeel Durrani said the figures released by the study showed a high percentage of women resorting to abortions for unwanted pregnancies was both disturbing and alarming. He emphasized improving outreach of services, especially in the far-flung and remote areas of the country as well as the rural areas.

The aim of the study, said the report, was to achieve a better understanding of the magnitude and underlying reasons for unwanted pregnancies and induced abortions in Pakistan. The study showed that in Pakistan, as many as one in six pregnancies ended in an induced abortion.

The findings of this report would, it was hoped, lead to more effective policies and programmes to reduce the incidence of both unwanted pregnancies and the resulting morbidities associated with unsafe abortions.

The study estimated the national abortion rate at 29 per 1,000 women of reproductive age, implying that a sizable proportion of Pakistani women had abortions. Mainly older married women with several children account for the large majority of unwanted pregnancies.