Uzbekistan Denies Forced Sterilization of Women

Uzbekistan on Monday denied media claims that it was secretly sterilizing women, calling the family program of Central Asia's most populous country a model for other states.

"Distorted information on the use of contraception and particularly surgical sterilization in Uzbekistan that regularly appears in the tabloid press has nothing to do with reality," the Uzbek foreign ministry said.

It added that studies conducted by the World Health Organization and the UNICEF children's fund pointed to transparency in Uzbekistan's "policy of protecting the reproductive health" of women.

International human rights groups and some Western media accuse the Uzbek government of practicing a state policy of forced sterilization to control its birth rate for the past several years.

The BBC reported on April 12 that it had talked to Uzbek women who were sterilized without their knowledge, calling the practice "systematic".

The foreign ministry said Uzbekistan's child and maternal health program "can serve as a model for many countries, not only in the region but in the world."