The Hindu : Minister for pill in family welfare scheme

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 07, 2003

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Minister for pill in family welfare scheme

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi March 6 . The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Sushma Swaraj, today backed the move to introduce the abortion pill in the family welfare programme as it would give women a choice and reduce maternal mortality. However, it must be made as safe as possible, she said.

"The issue of medical abortion should not be viewed as a medical subject alone. It should be linked to the wider issue of women's health and the health of the nation," she said.

Inaugurating a three-day "Consortium on National Consensus for Medical Abortion" here, Ms. Swaraj said while the responsibility of the occurrence of an unplanned pregnancy was of the husband and wife, it is only the woman's health which is at risk. However, as against the invasive Dilation and Curettage (D&C) option in an operation theatre, if the pregnancy could be aborted by a medical pill, then it would be a boon for women. It's like preferring a tablet to an injection. For us, it will be a milestone," she said.

Adding a word of caution, Ms. Swaraj said trials in India had shown that the success rate of the abortion pill with a prescribed protocol to be 95 per cent. "Even so, all care and precaution should be taken to ensure that the five per cent side-effects involving excessive bleeding should be reduced. The pill should be launched only after careful deliberation."

Speaking on the occasion, the chief coordinator of the study at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, Suneeta Mittal from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology said the existing rate of abortion in the country was 452 for 1,000 live births and at least 50 per cent of it was unsafe. Abortion-related deaths contributed to 17.6 per cent of all maternal deaths and many women suffered from permanent or temporary disability.

Experts in medical abortion from the U.K., Sweden, China, Hong Kong, Romania would share their experiences at the consortium which has been jointly organised by WHO, AIIMS, ICMR and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

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