Only 5 per cent pregnt women get counselling for thyroid disorders'

New Delhi, Jan 22: Only five percent of India’s women get counselling for thyroid disorders during pregncy, increasing the risk of a slew of medical complications, including miscarriages and postpartum bleeding, a white paper on the issue said. It also said that less than one percent women in both public and private hospitals get complete Thyroid Panel tests routinely done currently in the country. The prevalence of thyroid diseases in India currently was 10.95 percent, almost double the diabetes cases at 5.4 percent of the country’s population. Treating hypothyroidism is costlier than abortion it triggers, said the white paper. The white paper on ‘Impact and Assessment of Thyroid and Influenza disorders on Mother and Child Health’ was jointly launched by business chamber FICCI and Frost and Sullivan, a company working to address global challenges. It said there was not much difference between public health service providers and private healthcare settings when it comes to screening for thyroid. The prevalence of thyroid screening ranges between 5-10 percent in government hospitals and 20-25 percent in private hospitals.  (IANS)