Death of women in Indian sterilisation camp worrying: UN chief Ban Ki-moon

United Nations: UN chief Ban Ki-Moon said that the death of 13 women in India due to sterilisation surgeries is “worrying” and the government should take appropriate care to ensure such medical procedures are conducted in the safest and sanitary way possible. [caption id=“attachment_1801071” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. AFP[/caption] UN Secretary General Ban’s spokesperson Farhan Haq said the UN is aware of the reports of botched mass sterilisation surgeries in Chhattisgarh in which 13 women died and several others have been hospitalised and are in critical condition. “We’ve seen these worrying reports out of India. Wherever these medical practices occur in the world, we want to make sure that all the authorities take the appropriate care to make sure that they are conducted in as safe and as sanitary a way as possible. That’s the basic ground point”, Haq told reporters. Haq added that the UN wants to make sure that when governments pursue policies, including those on family planning, they respect rights of all citizens particularly the rights of women. “That goes for the entire range of family planning and contraceptive services,” he added. These are complex medical issues and are questions that would be better addressed by the World Health Organisation, he said. RK Gupta, the doctor who operated on 83 women in five hours at a hospital in Bilaspur, which was not in use since April. Eight women died on Monday and three more died on Tuesday. Sixty women are being treated in various hospitals. Dr Gupta was suspended on Tuesday by the state government, which had awarded him on Republic Day 26 January for a record 100,000 surgeries in his career. PTI