Brahmapur: Drug inspectors in Odisha’s Ganjam district have been directed to take stringent action against the sale of medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) kits and other abortion pills without prescriptions, officials said Monday.
The move is aimed at protecting women’s health, curbing illegal abortions and improving the child sex ratio in the district, Ganjam Collector Keerthi Vasan V said.
He said the decision was taken at a district advisory committee (DAC) meeting under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act held recently at Chhatrapur.
The district collector is the chairperson of the committee.
Drug inspectors have been asked to crack down on the illegal sale of such medicines and kits at medicine shops in the district.
Outlets found selling the pills illegally will be sealed, Vasan said.
The meeting discussed the easy availability and sale of abortifacient drugs, used for medical termination of pregnancy, at medicine shops without valid prescriptions, which officials said could lead to illegal abortions and adversely affect the sex ratio at birth (SRB) in the district.
The restriction is significant as Ganjam’s SRB is lower than the state average.
The district recorded 920 girls per 1,000 boys, compared with 923 at the state level, officials said.
Following the decision, district health officials wrote to drug inspectors directing them to take stringent action against the illegal sale of such pills and kits at medicine shops.
“Abortifacients are classified under Schedule H and H1 and shall not be sold without a valid prescription from a registered medical practitioner,” said in-charge Chief District Medical and Public Health Officer (CDM and PHO) S Kameswar Rao.
Additionally, under the PC-PNDT Act, 1994, the sale and misuse of such drugs for sex-selective abortion is punishable, he said.
Drug inspectors were asked to issue instructions to all medicine shops and pharmacies in the district to refrain from counter sales of such drugs without valid prescriptions from qualified doctors.
“Strict monitoring, surprise inspections and enforcement action may be undertaken to prevent unauthorised sale and to safeguard maternal health in the district,” Rao added.
