Shreyas H S
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Jun 10: In yet another blunder, the health and family welfare department (HFWD), is found to have made false claims in the High Court of Karnataka about the ultrasound scanning of pregnant women hailing from Endosulfan affected localities. The scanning test is required to spot deformities in the foetus.
The difference in the number of scanned candidates cited in a reply to an RTI query and the number presented in court by Shivashilam, the principal secretary to the state health and family welfare department, reveals the discrepancies and perhaps deliberate attempt to twist facts. The principal secretary claimed in court that a total of 35,000 candidates were scanned across three Endo-affected districts. Surprisingly, many of these had undergone scanning at a breakneck speed from December to April.
Uttara Kannada and Udupi district health departments, in March 2014, had said that they had not examined any pregnant women for Endo problems. The Dakshina Kannada health department, in one of the replies, claimed that it had scanned as many as 1,659 pregnant women hailing from Endo affected areas under the Janani Suraksha Yojane (JSY). The numbers do not tally in any way.
Principal secretary Shivashilam, speaking to Daijiworld, said, "I have submitted the numbers as per my knowledge." He dodged questions on RTI and asked to file another RTI to get accurate numbers.
According to medical science, tests have to be conducted twice during pregnancy—one in the 11th -12th week and another in the 18th -20th week after conception. While in the first test, Downs Syndrome and hydrocephalus can be detected, the second helps spot any physical abnormalities. If any anomalies are found in the foetus, there is a possibility of the foetus being terminated. It is surprising that the health departments of three districts succeeded in picking up 35,000 pregnant women falling in this category during the specific period.
In answer to an RTI question on the number of ultrasound scans conducted in this connection, to detect abnormalities in the foetus, the HFWD on August 7, 2013, said no such tests were exclusively done on Endo-pregnant women in DK. The information in this regard was sought by Dr Vasudev Pai. “The number 35,000 presented before the High Court of Karnataka has raised serious doubts about the credibility of the department,” said Pai.
The health department, in an attempt to cover the irresponsibility, made false claims to the court stating that they have conducted 35,000 ultrasound scans on Endo-pregnant women in a short span of three months in three districts. Daijiworld confirmed this with credible sources at the High Court of Karnataka.
For information sought yet again (RTI) on scanning done for Endo affected women, the department said that from August 1, 2013, to January 31, 2014, it managed to examine 1,659 candidates. The department, in the RTI reply, mentioned that tests were carried out under JSY. “Apart from these mismatching answers, the principal secretary of the health department has made false claims in the High Court,” explained Dr Pai.
He added that the RTI answers he received for the same from Udupi and Uttara Kannada state that no examination was made in connection to Endosulfan. “The principal secretary is trying to hide their apathy maintained over the years on the Endo issue,” he added.
“I have filed many RTIs to gather this information as the public information officer of the DK health department was providing inaccurate information,” he contended.
Dr Arun Kumar, the nodal officer for Endosulfan rehabilitation, said, “The numbers which the department had produced in the RTI are accurate and there is no scope for mistake.” He refrained from commenting on questions about the claims made by the principal secretary.