THIS refers to the article `Pakistan gone girls` (July 1). I am afraid the information is based essentially on assumptions and not facts. Since the issue of gender-based sex selective abortion has come up in neighbouring India very prominently, it has been assumed that the same situation exists in Pakistan.

I want to remind the readers that Pakistan and India have different social and religious contexts. Though boys are eagerly looked forward to at the time of delivery, in my 30 years of work, I have seen only one patient seeking abortion for female gender of the foetus.

Similar was the experience of many health professionals whose responses constituted the bulk of a recent study on this issue by the Population Council of Pakistan.

Most of abortions in Pakistan are done on married women, over 30 years of age with two to three children.

Most of these are carried out in the first three months of pregnancy when genderdetermination is generally not possible.

The predominant reason for seeking abortions is contraceptive failure or lack of contraception. The study referred to in the article has used extrapolated data to prove that gender-specific abortions are taking place in Pakistan.

In a country where exact data of its population and vital statistics like maternal mortality are lacking such extrapolations can be grossly misleading.

Rubina Sohail Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Lahore