Earlier this month, the shocking news came from India that 15 women had died and many more had been hospitalized following their participation in a government-run sterilization programme. Recent evidence suggests the drugs they were given could be at least partially to blame.
Indian “sterilization camps” have been around since the 1970s, when the government introduced them to help stem population growth. The Salman Rushdie novel, Midnight’s Children, documents a tragedy in 1975 when over six million men were sterilized of whom, two thousand died..
Sterilization is the most common form of contraception for married people in India – around 37% of married women have been sterilized. With nearly 4 million participants in 2013 and 2014 alone, not all procedures go to plan. From 2009 to 2012, there were 700 deaths and 400 reports of complications.
The early news reports of the recent incident implicated the doctor who carried out the operations. He had been carrying out far more of the operations than was recommended under government guidelines – 80 in six hours. But now authorities suspect the drugs the women were given may have been to blame.
The drugs in question are still being analysed but early reports have suggested contamination. The manufacturer was a tiny, father and son operation, typical of the small firms that supply many very low-price drugs used by India’s public hospitals.
The Indian Pharmaceutical Association believes that this should be a wake-up call to the Government about the need for stronger regulation.
However, India does have a regulatory framework in place to tackle such cases. What it seems to lack is the investment in staff and training to enforce the rules. Some states have introduced centralized procurement procedures with inspections but this is far from universal.
Whether or not the drugs or the doctor should bear the brunt of the blame is still open for debate but one thing is certain. If things don’t change another tragedy is just around the corner.
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