THE SILENT SCOURGE OF HYSTERECTOMY

Too many young Indian women are going through unnecessary hysterectomies. It's affecting their health and working lives. Better awareness and tighter monitoring are needed to counter the trend

- SANJEEV SANYAL Member, Economic Advisory Council to the PM

HERE is a quiet but serious epidemic in the country—hysterectomy. It is a surgical procedure involving the removal of a woman's uterus, sometimes accompanied by the removal of the ovaries, fallopian tubes and cervix.

According to the National Family Health Survey 2019-21 (NFHS 5), the prevalence of hysterectomy among women aged 40-49 years was as high as nearly 10 percent. The numbers are far higher in states such as Andhra Pradesh (22.5 percent), Telangana (21.2 percent), Bihar (17.2 percent) and Gujarat (11.7 percent).

More worryingly, the median age of women who had undergone hysterectomy is 34 years for rural and 36 years for urban areas, more than 10 years before natural menopause.

The common reasons for getting a hysterectomy include excessive menstrual bleeding/ pain, fibroids/ cysts, and uterine disorders. While it may be sometimes unavoidable, the surgery poses serious risk to women's health by inducing early menopause. Research has established its links with increased risk of illnesses like cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, ovarian failure, vasomotor symptoms, thyroid cancer, urinary tract cancer, pelvic prolapse, bone density loss, and mental health issues. Therefore, it is not a procedure that should be taken lightly.

Despite such obvious health consequences, why is hysterectomy among young women in India on the rise? Data consistently indicates a higher prevalence among less educated rural women, despite the limited access to surgical procedures in rural areas. Moreover, women agricultural workers have been hit hard by this trend as they are led to believe that it avoids loss of wages and improves endurance for demanding work hours without menstrual discomfort. This is widely documented among sugarcane workers in Maharashtra's Beed district, where the prevalence was at a staggering 56 percent in 2024, with an average age of 35 years among women who migrated for work.