Legalise sex determination to protect girl child: IMA prez

Panaji: Thenational president of Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dr R V Asokan, said on Sunday that the association favours legalising sex determination tests in India. He said such a measure would help safeguard the girl child until delivery.


The IMA’s central working committee is advocating for sex detection and child protection, Asokan said. “A meeting of the committee was held two weeks ago. We are demanding sex detection and protection of (the unborn) child...tag the child...carry that child to delivery,” he said. “If anything untoward occurs, then hold people accountable. It’s possible as technology is available.”

The IMA president said he believes this approach will contribute to the goal of safeguarding the girl child and improving the sex ratio.

He questioned the manner in which West Bengal govt handled the rape and murder case at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. He said, “Had govt and the officials concerned approached the case professionally, it would not have ended like this. It was less than optimal.”

Asokan added, “The nature of the crime raised expectations, but govt was a bit insensitive to the situation.”

As for violence against doctors, Asokan said that such cases are often engineered by politicians. He further said that the involvement of politicians creates problems for police.

Asokan said state laws (to curb violence against doctors) are either ineffective or politicians lack the will to properly implement them. IMA has pressed for a central law to address this problem. However, the Centre has not yet considered this proposal, he said.


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