Stigma and bias erode wellbeing and exacerbate psychological harm, particularly for people from marginalised communities, especially women. Many with the disease are reluctant to reveal their status because of concerns about prejudice and criticism, often choosing to live in secrecy. Continue reading
Suraj, five, was sent to the district hospital in Nuapada, western Odisha, after being ill with a persistent fever. He and his family had to run from one hospital to another, some even 250 kilometres from their hamlet. Finally, when his haemoglobin electrophoresis tests revealed SCD, he was admitted as a patient and referred for blood transfusions. Suraj’s tale demonstrates the difficulty that people like Suraj, who come from disadvantaged tribal communities, experience in accessing basic healthcare and diagnostics. Continue reading
In September 2021, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act of 2021 came into force, extending the upper gestational limit for abortion from 20 to 24 weeks. Although the amendment did not recognise abortion on demand as a pregnant person’s right, it was heralded as the next step in making Indian abortion laws more progressive. The recent Court’s decision to refuse an abortion to a woman with postpartum psychosis has undone the progressive strides made in 2021 and 2022. Continue reading
Challenges exist around heritable gene editing, its potential medical applications, ethical implications, and the need for regulatory mechanisms in the field. In March this year I spoke at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing, held in London, about “The Role of Civil Society and Culture in Fostering Public Engagement on the Ethics of Human Genome Editing.” Continue reading
The understanding that the drivers of inequities are multiple and intersecting is critical for health policy formulation and implementation. An intersectionality analysis reveals these relationships and allows a nuanced grasp of how health inequities are framed and understood. Continue reading
The Print | 21 Nov 2019 The Rajya Sabha Wednesday deferred the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2019 after several members wanted modifications. The Bill seeks to ban commercial surrogacy and allow ‘altruistic’ surrogacy, limiting it only to a ‘close relative’ to be a… Continue reading
