Press Scanner

Out of 5 pregnant women 3 makes an abortion

Rezonansi writes that the baby boom continues in Georgia, with more than 14 000 babies born in 2010. However, the number of abortions increased as well and, according to latest data, reached about 25 600 the same year. This suggests that 65% of pregnant women in Georgia choose abortion.

Zugdidi gynecologist Ia Chania says the number of abortions in their hospital is very low, and that doctors encourage their patients not to choose the procedure. "[The patient] can protect herself from pregnancy” in other ways, Chania says.

Paata Maskharashvili, also a gynecologist, says that the number of abortions have decreased compared to previous years, thanks in part to several programs that provide information about the process. He also believes that the number of babies born each year is increasing.

This is perhaps due to the efforts of the Patriarch, who promised to personally baptize all third (and subsequent) babies to whom a family gives birth.



Public toilets for tourists criticized

Mteli Kvira writes that one of the problems tourists face in Georgia is a lack of public toilets. The government plans to construct 50 toilets around the country, with 2 million GEL allocated for this project from the state budget.

Economic analyst Avtandil Silagadze says that the construction of toilets should have begun as soon as the government stated tourism as its major priority. He also notes that the above numbers suggest each toilet will cost 40 000 GEL, which he says is very expensive. He also criticized the reported number of tourists visiting Georgia each year. “Authorities claim that 3 million have entered the country. If it is true, those people should bring about 3-4 billion GEL, but the money is not visible for us.”