Highlights
- Fake Drug Disaster lead to maternal deaths in Rajasthan: NHRC seeks action.
- An exhaustive all India Study Finds major gaps in treatment of Tuberculosis.
- India to grow world’s first “Gene-Edited” Rice: Is technology going too fast?
- Poor uptake of HPV vaccine in TN. Only 2000 girls take the vaccine in 6 months.
By Dr. Amitav Banerjee, Chairperson of the Universal Health Organisation (UHO)
Fake Drug Disaster lead to maternal deaths in Rajasthan: NHRC seeks action.
Substandard drug has been linked to several maternal deaths in Rajasthan. Survivors face
long term health issues and rising medical bills. The drug in question is substandard
oxytocin. Oxytocin is used during childbirth to help uterus to contract and control bleeding
after the birth of the child. Five women who underwent Caesarean section died across two
government hospitals in Kota Rajasthan, after they were administered oxytocin injection in
July this year.The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed ask asked the State Health
Officials to investigate and take action. The NHRC has asked for accountability for regulatoryfailures and adequate compensation for the victims. Independent probes and systemic reforms in drug regulation are also demanded.
The NHRC’s statement was in response to a call by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan India, a civil
rights group.
After going to the depth of the matter the NHRC has directed the Rajasthan health
department to take appropriate action within eight weeks. It has asked to keep the
complainant and the victims involved in the process and inform them of the action taken.
The substandard oxytocin was analyzed by the Drug Control Department of the state and
found absence of the active ingredient along with poor quality control and record keeping by the manufacturers. Not only some women died but many survivors sustained kidney failure and had to undergo dialysis. Their long term quality of life would be adversely affected. Many had to pay large amounts for treatment with no compensation from the government.
The incidence raises concerns about violations of the right to life and health under Article 21 of the Constitution. Repeated failures by the regulatory authorities to ensure quality of drugs, gaps in public health procurement and pharmacovigilance and absence of timely
compensation or rehabilitation for the affected families are matters of grave negligence.
The UHO agrees that the matter should be treated as a violation of human rights with
accountability falling on the State government, the union health ministry, the Central Drugs
Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) and concerned drug controllers. We also concur
with insisting on an independent probe and adequate compensation and lifelong medical
care for the survivors and criminal negligence charges against those found responsible
along with systemic reforms in drug regulation in India. Our member Dr Maya Valecha adds, “For substandard oxytocin the drug company should compensate the patients for the lifelong treatment and their relatives in case of deaths. Why should public money be used in treatment and compensation? If the state pays for it, it is public money.”
An exhaustive all India Study Finds major gaps in treatment of Tuberculosis.
The PRAMAN India study: First systematic review and meta-analysis of Anti-Tuberculosis
Prescription practices in non-programmatic settings in India has found serious shortcomings.
Published in the Indian Journal of Tuberculosis, the PRAMAN India study examined the
prevalence and patterns of incorrect anti-tuberculosis (anti-TB) prescribing in nonprogrammatic healthcare settings in India.
Tuberculosis remains a major public health challenge in the country, with India accounting
for approximately one-quarter of the global TB burden. A substantial proportion of patients
receive treatment in the private sector and other settings operating outside the direct
framework of the national TB programme. Although national and international guidelines
recommend standardized multidrug regimens for TB treatment, inappropriate prescribing
continues to occur. Such prescribing may contribute to treatment failure, disease
transmission, adverse outcomes, and the development of drug-resistant TB. The study
therefore aimed to quantify the extent of faulty anti-TB prescribing, assess changes over
time, examine geographical and provider-related differences, and estimate the potential
future burden.
The researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. A total of 34 studies published between 1991 and 2024 were
included, covering 3,834 real-world anti-TB treatment records in India. The most important finding was that the pooled prevalence of incorrect anti-TB prescriptions was 53.3%, which suggests that approximately one in every two prescriptions assessed in non-programmatic healthcare settings was faulty. The overall finding demonstrates that inappropriate TB prescribing has been a substantial and persistent problem in India.
The future projections remain concerning. The authors suggest that inappropriate prescribing may continue to affect a substantial proportion of patients.
The study also demonstrated substantial geographical variation. Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, and Uttarakhand had faulty- prescription rates exceeding the overall crude prevalence of 50.8%. Of particular concern were Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Delhi, which have both high TB notification burdens and substantial private-sector TB drug sales. Targeted interventions in these regions could therefore have a significant impact on the overall quality of TB treatment in India.
Differences were also observed according to provider type. Studies involving both allopathic and indigenous practitioners reported a faulty-prescription prevalence of 59.0%, compared with 51.1% among studies involving only allopathic practitioners.
The public health implications are substantial. By combining prevalence estimates with private-sector treatment volumes, the authors estimated that approximately 2–3 million anti- TB prescriptions may be incorrect each year in India’s non-programmatic healthcare sector. This corresponds to approximately four to five faulty prescriptions every minute. Such inappropriate prescribing could undermine treatment effectiveness and contribute to the development of drug resistance, thereby slowing India’s progress toward TB elimination.
UHO recommends more resources should be spent on ensuring 100% correct and complete treatment of TB patients than focusing on development of newer vaccines which in the case of TB has been a failure in the past. On the other hand cure rates of complete and correct
anti-tubercular treatment are high. We cannot afford the luxury of experimenting with newer vaccines when we lose almost a thousand patients from TB daily in spite of an effective treatment which alas, is available to only half of those suffering from the disease.
The study also finds mention in the Economic Times Health World.
India to grow world’s first “Gene-Edited” Rice: Is technology going too fast?
More than a year after its announcement, one of India’s gene-edited rice varieties is about to be sowed in the coming rabi season.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), is set to sign a MOU with USA’s Corteva, which holds the license for CRISP-Cas9 gene-editing technology.
The signing of the MOU will pave the way for the commercial release of “Pusa DST Rice I” developed by ICAR New Delhi based Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI).
ICAR’s position is that targeted, foreign-DNA-free editing plus molecular assessment and conventional multi-location varietal testing provides an appropriate route to deployment.
Critics argue that gene editing can still produce unintended biological consequences and therefore deserves more extensive, transparent and independent biosafety evaluation.
UHO concurs with the latter and recommends close and transparent monitoring of benefits and risks. Equally important, these should be carried out by agencies without any commercial conflicts of interests.
After the Covid-19 vaccine fiasco, which was rolled out in similar haste, the public trust is at an all time low.
Poor uptake of HPV vaccine in TN. Only 2000 girls take the vaccine in 6 months.
Only around 2,000 girls have received the free Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in Tiruchy district in the six months since its rollout, despite the Health Department identifying over one lakh eligible beneficiaries and maintaining adequate vaccine stocks across government health facilities.
Officials attribute the poor uptake to the programme’s dependence on voluntary participation,
unlike the earlier school-based pilot drive that recorded near-complete coverage.
According to the Health Department, over 10,000 girls aged 14 years (those who have completed 14 years but are yet to turn 15) have been identified within the Tiruchy Corporation limits, while the district has over one lakh eligible girls for vaccination. The vaccine is available free of cost at all Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Urban Health Centres and government hospitals.
“TN has requested permission to administer the vaccine through schools, but the centre is yet to issue the necessary guidelines. During the pilot, schools played a key role in counselling parents and obtaining consent, which resulted in excellent coverage. We believe school-based vaccination will significantly improve acceptance,” another health official said.
UHO has serious reservations and concerns regarding school based vaccination drives. Firstly, schools are not equipped to handle adverse events, however rare, and secondly, due to indirect pressure from teachers (who have to meet targets), and peer pressure from classmates, autonomy and informed consent is likely to be compromised.
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Universal Health Organisation (UHO) Weekly Newsletter – 31 JULY 2026