400,000-500,000 Abortions Take Place in Sindh Annually

Sindh is confronting a growing women’s health crisis, with an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 abortions occurring each year — many of them unsafe, unregulated, and potentially fatal, health experts warn. The situation, compounded by widespread malnutrition and anemia, is endangering the lives of countless women across the province.

In an interview with The Express Tribune, Dr. Mehwish Mubarak Ali, Deputy Director (Clinics Section) at the Sindh Population Welfare Department, highlighted the severity of the issue. “In terms of blood loss, one unsafe abortion can be as dangerous as ten full-term pregnancies,” she explained.

Dr. Mehwish noted that many women, particularly from rural or low-income backgrounds, turn to untrained individuals for abortion procedures, leading to serious complications such as infections, infertility, and even death.

Women and girls aged 15 to 49, the key reproductive age group, are increasingly facing iron deficiency and poor nutrition, which not only jeopardize their health but also impact child growth and cognitive development. According to recent surveys, 10–15% of women in Sindh suffer from severe anemia or nutritional deficiencies.

“In clinics where around 50 pregnant women visit daily, at least five to ten require urgent blood transfusions due to acute anemia,” Dr. Mehwish revealed. She added that this problem, once thought to be confined to rural areas, is now equally prevalent in cities due to poor diets and excessive fast-food consumption.

Sindh’s female population of 5.6 million faces widespread nutritional challenges, with 40–50% suffering from malnutrition. Gender bias in food allocation within rural households further aggravates the problem. “Boys often receive more nutritious food than girls, leaving the latter undernourished,” she explained.

Early marriages and adolescent pregnancies also remain major contributors to poor maternal health. “When young girls become mothers too early, both they and their babies are at higher risk of premature births, low birth weight, and developmental issues,” she added.

Pakistan’s maternal and infant mortality rates remain alarmingly high — 64 out of every 1,000 newborns die before turning one. Nationally, an estimated 3.6 million unplanned pregnancies occur each year, a significant number of which end in abortion, with Sindh alone accounting for nearly half a million cases annually.

Experts attribute the crisis to limited awareness, lack of birth spacing, and inadequate access to safe reproductive health services.

Dr. Mehwish emphasized the importance of birth spacing in line with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations — a minimum two-year gap between pregnancies, with the first pregnancy ideally occurring between the ages of 18 and 35.

She also pointed to new family planning options like the Sayana Press Self-Injection, a three-month contraceptive that women can safely use at home, offering greater privacy, affordability, and control over their reproductive health.