The Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, 2020 – one the Government has billed as “historic” – has won the approval of the Union Cabinet in a significant overture towards regulation of the assisted reproductive technology sector. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the Cabinet meeting where the Bill secured the approval of ministers. The legislation outlines […]
women's health
Stalking: A hidden crisis of sexual harassment?
“I saw a woman burning in the street,” Vijay Kukade told BBC Marathi. He was recalling a gruesome incident, in which a woman on her way to the college where she lectured was attacked and set alight by a man whom her family said had been stalking her for some time. Tragically, the woman lost […]
Female genital mutilation: A menace the world must overcome
Female genital mutilation is a global menace. “Recognised internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women” and “[reflecting] deep-rooted inequality between the sexes” in the words of the World Health Organization (WHO), it is a practice that demands zero tolerance and maximum accountability – including in India, where it often takes […]
Cervical cancer elimination: A 100-year roadmap
Cervical cancer as a threat, in the words of the World Health Organization (WHO), “is one of the greatest today to women’s health.” As a public health priority, cervical cancer elimination is much-needed – and research published last week in The Lancet outlines the contours of the roadmap towards this end over the next 100 […]
Abortion law reform on the cards?
The Union Cabinet has approved extending the timeframe in which a woman can avail an abortion to 24 weeks, in what has been described as a “progressive reform”, compared to the current upper limit of twenty weeks at present. This move marks a significant step towards abortion reform law. The approval of the Medical Termination […]
Breast cancer cases on the rise
Multiple Indian states are witnessing an increase in their number of breast cancer cases according to recent data, suggesting an uptick in rates of one of the major public health threats to Indian women. As previously reported by Health Issues India, “breast cancer… is the most common type of cancer among Indian women and, together […]
Abortions: 61 lakh in five years, but issues remain
India recorded 61 lakh abortions in the five years since the 2014-15 period, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Choubey informed lawmakers last week. Giving a written reply to a question posed in the Lok Sabha, Choubey said that the Government was taking steps to ensure access to safe abortions in the […]
Sex determination labs in the crosshairs of the Telangana High Court
The Telangana High Court has wrote to state government officials about the proliferation of sex determination labs despite the practice of prenatal sex determination being illegal in India. The two-justice bench, consisting of Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A. Abhishek Reddy, was responding to a public interest litigation filed before the High Court. […]
The challenge of getting family planning “right”: Professor Amy O. Tsui on sexual and reproductive health in India
With India facing a plethora of issues related to sexual and reproductive health, ranging from sex-selective abortion to rising rates of infertility, Health Issues India interviewed Professor Amy O. Tsui, PhD of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, to discuss India’s family planning, female sterilisation, infertility, female foeticide, and other issues in the […]
Suicide risk does not increase after an abortion: Research
The notion that undergoing an abortion increases a woman’s suicide risk is not supported by evidence, according to recent research. A study published in The Lancet examined data of 523,380 Danish women between the ages of eighteen and 36, finding that whilst women who undergo an abortion have a higher risk of first-time non-fatal suicide […]