Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to update the country's health care system by introducing modernized birth control methods for women. Ironically, the impending change has not been well-received by the same sector who would benefit from it.
Several women's groups in India have questioned the safety of the new methods. Some believe that big-name Western pharmaceutical companies are just looking to cash in on the country's ballooning population, per The New York Times.
Despite the mild opposition, the Indian government is vehemently keen on introducing subsidized injectable contraceptives as a safer alternative to female sterilization, the prevalent albeit dangerous birth control method in the country.
The international community, headed by the United States Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has been urging India to afford its women with a wider selection of birth control options. The calls for change had been going on since 2014, when 13 women in Chhattisgarh died due to complications from tubal ligation.
Reuters reported that women were being operated at notorious sterilization camps across India. Those who ultimately died from the operation were thought to be victims of rusty equipment or spoiled medicine.
Ramavtar Suryavanshi said her wife came home feeling excruciating pain. He was able to rush her to a private hospital, but she didn't last half an hour in intensive care. More cases were reported shortly thereafter. A doctor by the name of R.K. Gupta was charged with negligence following the medical disaster.
Indian health minister C.K. Mishra said the new birth control options will be implemented gradually. A few medical colleges and district hospitals will start offering the modernized contraceptives later this year while the majority of Indian hospitals will be given ample supplies in 2017.
"I thought it was incumbent on the government to provide it as a choice," said Mishra. "We want to be very careful. We don't want to put a single step wrong."
