4. REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
MEDICAL TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY (MTP)
·
Intentional
or voluntary termination of pregnancy before full term is called MTP or induced abortion.
·
45 to 50 million MTPs are performed in a year all
over the world (i.e. 1/5th of total number of conceived
pregnancies).
·
MTP
helps to decrease the population.
·
Many
countries have not legalised MTP due to emotional, ethical, religious and
social issues.
·
Government
of India legalised MTP in 1971 with some strict conditions to check illegal
female foeticides.
Importance of MTP
o To avoid unwanted pregnancies due to casual
intercourse
or failure of
the contraceptive used during coitus or rapes.
o
It
is essential in cases where continuation of pregnancy could be harmful to the
mother or to the foetus or both.
MTPs are safe during the first trimester, (up to 12 weeks of pregnancy). 2nd
trimester abortions are very risky.
Problems related with MTP
§ Majority of the MTPs are performed illegally.
§ Misuse of amniocentesis
test for foetal sex
determination. If the foetus is female, it is followed by MTP. Such practices
are dangerous for the young mother and foetus.
Amniocentesis: In this, some amniotic fluid of the foetus is taken
to analyse the foetal cells & dissolved substances. It is used to test the
presence of genetic disorders, survivability of the foetus etc.
Government of
India enacted The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2017
to reduce illegal abortion and consequent maternal mortality and morbidity.
According to this
Act, a pregnancy may be terminated within the first 12 weeks on the opinion of
a registered medical practitioner. If the pregnancy is between 12 - 24 weeks,
two registered medical practitioners must be of the opinion.
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES (STDs)
· Diseases or infections transmitted through sexual
intercourse are called Sexually transmitted diseases/infections (STDs or
STIs)/Venereal diseases (VD) or
Reproductive tract infections (RTI). E.g. Gonorrhoea, syphilis, genital
herpes, chlamydiasis, genital warts, trichomoniasis, hepatitis-B & HIV
leading to AIDS.
·
Hepatitis-B
& HIV are also transmitted
o
By sharing of injection needles, surgical instruments
etc.
o By transfusion of blood.
o From infected mother to foetus.
·
Except hepatitis-B, genital herpes & HIV, other
diseases are completely curable if detected early and treated properly.
·
Early symptoms: Itching, fluid discharge, slight pain,
swellings, etc. in
the genital region.
·
Absence or less significant early symptoms and the
social stigma deter the infected persons to consult a doctor. This leads to pelvic inflammatory diseases (PID), infertility,
ectopic pregnancies, abortions, still births, cancer of the reproductive tract
etc.
·
All
persons are vulnerable to STDs. These are very high among persons in the age
group of 15-24 years.
·
Prevention:
i. Avoid sex with unknown partners/multiple partners.
ii. Always use condoms during coitus.
iii. In case of doubt, go to a qualified doctor for early detection and get complete treatment.
No comments:
Post a Comment