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No cases of maternal mortality was recorded in Armenia in the past ten years as a result of sex-selective abortions, which is mainly linked to the use of contraception by Armenian women, an Armenian official told a news conference on Thursday.

Touching upon the prevalence of miscarriages, Gayane Avagyan, Head of Maternal and Reproductive Health Department of Armenia’s Ministry of Health noted that such cases range from 2500 to 2800 due to the introduction of new surveillance mechanisms.

“2235 miscarriages were recorded in 2016. The number of abortions prescribed by doctors have increased. If 300-400 such cases were reported ten years ago, now the number has reached to 1500-1700 in recent years. This means that fetal defects are possible to be detected early due to screening tests,” the doctor said.

Ms. Avagyan highlighted the mandatory three-day “reflection period” before the final decision on abortion, after which many woman abandon such a decision.

The speaker also reminded that pursuant to the Armenian legislation a health worker shall be fined by 80-100 fold of his/her salary for performing a sex-selective abortion. Regarding the individuals performing such a procedure, she said pharmacies sell medicine only by doctor’s prescription to restrict their activity.

“In general, a downward trend in abortions has been observed in recent years.  If in 2000, the abortion rate per woman was 2.6, the figure reduced to 1.8 in 2005, 0.8 – in 2010 and 0.6 – in 2015. It is noteworthy that the number of abortions and childbirths have dropped among the teenagers,” the expert said.
Gayane Avagyan drew attention to the fact that around 70-80,000 women die annually around the work due to the complications from abortions.

She also noted that after capital Yerevan, high rates of sex-selective abortions are recorded in Gegharkunik, Aragatsotn and Ararat provinces, in case when the incidence of such cases is relatively low in Syunik, Tavush and Lori provinces.

Ms. Avagyan reminded that 100 girls are born per 115 boys in Armenia when the normal birth sex ratio of boys to girls is 105-100.