Seeks opinion of Medical Council and Ministry in curbing their promotion  Oral emergency contraceptive pills gaining popularity among young girls Advertisements quite misleading and its side-effects are undisclosed Concerned over the indiscriminate use of emergency contraceptive pills sold across the country, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has written to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Medical Council of India seeking their opinion in curbing the promotion of these...

Monica Das Gupta is a senior social scientist at the World Bank. Her field research in Punjab, when she was at the National Council of Applied Economic Research, established that sex differentials in child mortality in rural Punjab persisted despite relative wealth, socio-economic development including rapid universalization of female education, fertility decline, and mortality decline. Amartya Sen’s writings drew attention to female foeticide and infanticide in Asia that led to...

The Medical Council of India which has issued guidelines that call on Doctors to reject gifts and sponsorships from drug companies today indicated that it was not in a position to police the norms. The MCI, the apex regulator of medical education and practice in the country, has issued a code of conduct that prohibits Doctors from accepting gifts, payments, or travel assistance and hospitality from pharmaceutical companies. Sections of...

As the country awaits another central government Budget, there is a growing demand for more financial muscle on several fronts. But, is throwing money at complex problems really a solution? A look at the progress of a crucial program of the government, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), indicates that money can’t buy everything. One of the biggest bottlenecks facing policy-makers is that of medical personnel. Recently released data by...

Though many migrant workers from south Madhya Pradesh have died of the incurable workplace disease called silicosis contracted from inhaling quartz dust in stone crushing factories in Gujarat, the public health system has carried out no comprehensive survey to identify the disease, which is often passed off as tuberculosis, many factories have not installed anti-pollution systems, and the NHRC has been sitting on the case since 2006 “He kept coughing…became more...