Indian Medical Association will rope in 13 general practitioners’ associations for successful implementation of the plan
The Pune branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) would soon launch a project, Sukanya, to save the girl child and spread awareness about having a healthy child, be it male or female.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has extended its support to this project.
The president of IMA, Pune branch, Dr Ambarish Shahade, told DNA there is a need to create awareness about the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, under which sex determination tests are banned.
Under Sukanya, the IMA will also help in identifying miscreants, be it people who opt for this test or be it the sonography centres that conduct the sex determination tests. “About 60 to 70 doctors will undergo a special training programme that will be formatted by the IMA by the end of this month,” he added.
These doctors would counsel expecting mothers and their in-laws about the Act and the need to have healthy babies, be it male or female.
“We will seek the help of the PMC’s ward officers,” he added.
IMA, Pune, has requested the civic body to run the project in all the 144 wards so that the health officers of the wards too get involved in the project. These health officers will be explained about the format of this project, said Dr Shahade.
IMA, Pune, will rope in 13 general practitioners’ associations (GPAs) for successful implementation of the project in the city. These GPAs would be earmarked for different localities to educate people about the Act and the need to desist from carrying out sex determination tests.
“The doctors who see patients at the outpatient department level every month will be asked to save the details of the expecting mothers and with the help of this list we will be able to track and identify the mothers and counsel them,” he said.
IMA, Pune, is also planning to launch a helpline where people can call and register their complaints.
“We will hold workshops about the PCPNDT Act during the upcoming Navratri and Diwali festivals,” the IMA, Pune, president
added.
Meanwhile Dr RR Pardeshi, chief of health department at PMC, said that the civic body would extend support to the IMA’s project.
“We had forwarded the proposal we received from IMA, Pune, to the state’s family welfare bureau requesting for Rs5 lakh as financial aid to bear the expenses of the project,” Dr Pardeshi said.
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