Reconsider the ban: on oxytocin
The Union Health Ministry’s ban on the retail sale and private manufacture of oxytocin, expected to kick off on September 1, is an extremely ill-thought-out one. The drug, a synthetic version of a human hormone, is a life-saver for women. Doctors use it to induce labour in pregnant women and to stem postpartum bleeding. So critical is its role in maternal health that the World Health Organization recommends it as the drug of choice in postpartum haemorrhage.
The government’s ban ignores this, and is motivated instead by the misuse of the hormone in the dairy industry. Because oxytocin stimulates lactation in cattle, dairy farmers inject the drug indiscriminately to increase milk production. This has spawned several unlicensed facilities that manufacture the drug for veterinary use. It is a problem that needs solving. But the right approach would have been to strengthen regulation, and crack down on illegal production. Much is unknown about the ill-effects of oxytocin on cattle.
One of the concerns was that oxytocin leads to infertility in dairy animals, and some studies show this to be true. It has also been linked to mastitis, a painful inflammation of the udder. Milk consumers worry about exposure to it through dairy products. The science behind some of these claims is unclear. In a Lok Sabha answer in 2015, the National Dairy Research Institute was quoted as saying there was no evidence that oxytocin led to infertility. A 2014 study by researchers at the National Institute of Nutrition concluded that oxytocin content in buffalo milk did not alter with injections.
However, even if the ill-effects of oxytocin are real, a ban is not the answer. Oxytocin is simply too important to Indian women, 45,000 of whom die due to causes related to childbirth each year. A parallel to the situation lies in the misuse of antibiotics in humans and poultry. So heavily are these drugs used that they are causing deadly bacteria to become resistant to them. Yet, despite calls for a complete ban on over-the-counter sale of antibiotics, India has been reluctant to do so.
In much of rural India, more people still die due to a lack of antibiotics than due to antibiotic-resistance. This has swung the cost-benefit ratio against outright bans. In oxytocin’s case, if only a single public sector unit manufactures the drug, as the government plans, this could lead to drug shortages and price hikes. Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Limited, the drugmaker tasked with manufacturing oxytocin, has been asked to cap the price at ₹16.56 for 1 ml of a five international unit (IU) solution. However, some private manufacturers were selling it for ₹4 until now. Monopolising production will remove the low-price options from the market. Such a situation may benefit cattle, but will put the lives of many women at risk.
courtesy : thehindu.com
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Fight to protect our Constitution and democracy begins today: Kharge on LS polls
New Delhi (PTI): As the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls began on Friday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge urged voters to cast their ballots carefully and asserted that a new era of economic empowerment and equal opportunities beckons them.
"The fight to protect our Constitution and Democracy begins today," he said in a post on 'X'.
"My dear citizens, from 21 States and UTs who are voting in the First Phase of the Lok Sabha elections, I request you to carefully cast your vote. A future where NYAY (justice) awaits you. A new era of Economic Empowerment and Equal Opportunities beckons you," the Congress chief said.
"I am sure you will vote for the 'jobs revolution' through YUVA NYAY, rather than a continuation of the past 10 years of record unemployment," Kharge said.
He exuded confidence that people would vote for the guarantees of 'NAARI NYAY' which takes concrete measures for the financial independence of women and against the continuation of the backbreaking price rise that has reduced their household savings to a 50-year low.
"I am sure our farmers will vote for KISAAN NYAY, for a legal guarantee of MSP, rather than getting duped by Jumlas of doubling farm income. I am sure the crores of hard-working hands that build this nation, will vote for the agenda of SHRAMIK NYAY, rather than a continuation of an era that has reduced their wages and left them to walk kilometers on highways during the pandemic," Kharge said in his post.
"I am sure our people belonging to the Dalit, Adivasi, OBC, EWS and Minority communities shall choose HISSEDARI NYAY over an era where they were discriminated through divisive politics and ever-increasing violence against them," he said.
"When you push that button on the EVM, pause and reflect for a second – Do you want our Institutions to be subverted through dictatorship, or do you want to protect Democracy," Kharge said.
He said voters would decide India's destiny. Kharge also extended a warm welcome to all first-time voters.
He urged people to go out and vote in large numbers.
