Abortion statistics cause for concern
Inadequate knowledge about contraception is a major factor in the 13 million abortions performed in China every year, research shows.
Abortion statistics cause for concern
This is an unfortunate - and avoidable - situation, experts said, and improvements need to be made.
Li Ying, a professor at Peking University, said Wednesday that young people need more knowledge about sex.
A survey done by 411 Hospital of PLA (People's Liberation Army) in Shanghai, for example, found that less than 30 percent of callers to a hotline knew how to avoid pregnancy, and only 17 percent were aware of venereal diseases.
More than 70 percent said they did not know sexual transmission is the major contributor to the spread of HIV/AIDS.
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Government statistics show that about 62 percent of the women who have abortions are between 20 and 29 years old, and most are single.
Wu said the real number of abortions is much higher than reported, because the figures are collected only from registered medical institutions.
Many abortions, Wu said, are performed in unregistered clinics.
Also, about 10 million abortion-inducing pills, used in hospitals for early-stage abortions, are sold every year in the country, she said.
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Abortions cost about 600 yuan ($88). Since the 1990s, doctors have not asked for a woman's marital status when an abortion is performed.
There are about 20 million births in the country each year, Wu said.
13 million! That's the population of Los Angeles (10M) and Orange (3M) Counties combined. At $88, that's easily a $1B business in China.
The real interesting statistic is what % of the women getting abortions are ernais or mistresses of government officials.
