Govt may keep eye on pregnant women going abroad
At a recent meeting of the state supervisory board for implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, it was suggested that the health department track those pregnant women from the state who visit Singapore, Dubai and Nepal to curb cases of sex determination. There is no law in those countries to prevent sex determination.
The meeting, chaired by state health minister Suresh Shetty on Monday, was attended by 20 experts.
Dr Kishora Taori, president of the Maharashtra Medical Council and former president of the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association, who is also a member of the state supervisory board for implementation of the PCPNDT Act, made this suggestion and proposed approaching the customs department through the Union health ministry to ask it track such women.
Once the customs department gives details of how many women head to Singapore, Dubai and Nepal, the state health department can rope in NGOs to track them down.
A gynaecologist, however, wasn’t amused by the suggestion that was floated at the meeting. “Those who have visited these countries may have gone there for some personal work or on a tour. Anybody can take an objection to it because it infringes on their privacy.”
According to health experts, a woman can go in for a legal abortion within 20 weeks of her pregnancy. But, the sex of a foetus can be determined through sonography within 15 weeks of the term.
Around 315 cases —the highest in the country — were registered against those violating the Act over the last year. But only 32 cases pertained to actual sex determination; the others were booked for technical reasons, like not filling up the mandatory form-F for a sonography test, the absence of a signboard at ultrasound clinics and forms being submitted without a signature.
At a recent meeting of the state supervisory board for implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, it was suggested that the health department track those pregnant women from the state who visit Singapore, Dubai and Nepal to curb cases of sex determination. There is no law in those countries to prevent sex determination.
The meeting, chaired by state health minister Suresh Shetty on Monday, was attended by 20 experts.
Dr Kishora Taori, president of the Maharashtra Medical Council and former president of the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association, who is also a member of the state supervisory board for implementation of the PCPNDT Act, made this suggestion and proposed approaching the customs department through the Union health ministry to ask it track such women.
Once the customs department gives details of how many women head to Singapore, Dubai and Nepal, the state health department can rope in NGOs to track them down.
A gynaecologist, however, wasn’t amused by the suggestion that was floated at the meeting. “Those who have visited these countries may have gone there for some personal work or on a tour. Anybody can take an objection to it because it infringes on their privacy.”
According to health experts, a woman can go in for a legal abortion within 20 weeks of her pregnancy. But, the sex of a foetus can be determined through sonography within 15 weeks of the term.
Around 315 cases —the highest in the country — were registered against those violating the Act over the last year. But only 32 cases pertained to actual sex determination; the others were booked for technical reasons, like not filling up the mandatory form-F for a sonography test, the absence of a signboard at ultrasound clinics and forms being submitted without a signature.
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