India's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a crackdown on unregistered clinics and diagnostic laboratories that are misusing ultrasound technology for determining the sex of foetuses.
Over the past several years, a greater-than-expected birth rate for boys has occurred in several Indian states because such technologies have led to an increase in the abortion of female foetuses. Such activities were banned under the Prenatal Diagnostic Technique (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, promulgated a few years back, but some clinics have continued the practice.
Doctor's organisations and other groups estimate that some 5 million
female foetuses or infants are killed in India every year.
Such practices have been fuelled by the preference of families to have a male child. Female children are considered a financial liability in several Indian states, as parents have to spend huge amounts as "dowry" given during their marriage. While the daughters leave the house when they get married, the sons are supposed to stay with their parents and earn "dowry" when they get married, making them richer.
"Almost 99% of private diagnostic labs use ultrasound for determining the sex of the foetus as it is a source of fast bucks for them," said independent gynaecologist and public health expert Dr. Puneet Bedi. "Abuse of ultrasound for such tests goes on even in government hospitals where such illegal tests are performed unofficially to oblige big bureaucrats or senior doctors or to make money surreptitiously," he added.
Bedi contends that very few clinics in Delhi do not do such illegal tests. "A vast majority of clinics performing such tests have remained unregistered," he added.
The Supreme Court order came in response to a public interest writ petition filed 2 years ago by the Mumbai-based non-governmental organisation, Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT). CEHAT contended that despite the law banning abuse of such technologies, female infanticide, sex-selective abortions and sexselection of embryos were rising due to lack of enforcement.
In the ongoing case, Justices M. B. Shah, B. N. Agrawal and Arijit Pasayat ordered the state governments to impound the ultrasound machines in unregistered clinics.
"The state governments are directed to take immediate action if such machines are being used in clinics without licenses. The machines are to be seized and sealed for the time being," they stated.
On December 11, 2001, the court had sought from the equipment suppliers--which included international manufacturers such as
General Electric and others--the names and addresses of those who had been supplied the equipment but many states failed to do anything with the information.
"It is a small, but significant step, in the right direction," Bedi said. It means that such registered clinics will have to keep records of tests done, abortions or deliveries taken place etc., that can be verified. "Auditing the performance of such clinics will be the important second step," he added.
In Haryana state in North India, the overall sex ratio is 861 girls to 1,000 boys, while in neighbouring Punjab it is 874 females to 1,000 males. In 0-6 age group, the imbalance in the sex ratio is even more exaggerated. Haryana has 820 females per 1,000 males while Punjab has 793 females.
Although doctors' professional organisations such as the Indian Medical Association (IMA) have joined the chorus against abuse of sex-selection technologies, their action on the subject has disappointed activists. Bedi criticises the IMA for defending doctors arrested near Delhi for abuse of such technologies a few months ago.
"Unfortunately, the doctors have been hand in glove in such abuses, but if one doctor goes to jail on getting caught, hundreds of others will behave," he said.