GS Analyst: Daily Current Affairs

Context:

A woman’s assessment of her inability to continue her pregnancy has been replaced by court’s opinion of her circumstances while hearing for the abortion of a feotus in 26 weeks, considering child’s birth rights.

Limited Reach of 2021 Amendment

• Amendment Scope: India extended legal abortion limit to 24 weeks for specific cases, excluding severe fetal abnormalities.
• Continued Judicial Intervention: Women still approach courts for breach of new gestational limits or provider denial.
• Prevalence of Post-20 Week Cases: Pre-2021, 74% of MTP cases filed post-20 weeks, mostly for fetal abnormalities or rape.

Challenges in Legal and Medical Processes

• Burdensome Procedures: Women face multiple medical exams, psychiatric evaluations, and graphic courtroom descriptions for abortion approval.
• RMPs' Reluctance: Fear of legal consequences deters registered medical practitioners from providing timely abortion care.
• Inadequate Legal Safeguards: Indian law, while relatively liberal, doesn't align with international human rights standards for abortion access.

Inequities in Abortion Decision-Making

• Unequal Considerations: Courts and the State make distinctions between reasons for abortion, impacting women's reproductive autonomy.
• Debated Judgments: Recent cases like X highlight the struggle for women's rights in pregnancy termination decisions.
• Call for Comprehensive Reform: WHO advocates for decriminalizing abortion and removing gestational limits for equal and safe access.

Context:

Pooled procurement by the central government when it comes to drug procurement can revolutionise the health-care system in India.

Missed Opportunities in Central Health Schemes

• Neglect of Pooled Procurement: The Indian government overlooks pooled buyer models, despite their proven benefits for drug procurement efficiency.
• Corporate Hospitals' Advantage: Corporate hospitals negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies, securing substantial discounts, albeit passing higher costs to patients.
• Potential for Buyers' Clubs: Hospitals collaborating in buyers' clubs can amplify bargaining power, yielding cost savings for not-for-profit institutions and patients.

Realizing Savings through Pooled Procurement

• Exemplary Cancer Grid Initiative: National Cancer Grid's group negotiation for 40 drugs yielded ?13.2 billion in savings (up to 99%).
• Inconsistent Coverage in Schemes: The central government lacks uniformity in covering beneficiaries under schemes like CGHS, ESI, and PMJAY, impeding procurement efficiency.
• Need for Centralized Procurement: Government can establish benchmark prices through pharma PSUs, ensuring competitive prices and averting reliance on private manufacturers.

Advantages Extend Beyond Cost Savings

• Quality Assurance through Buyers' Clubs: Independent testing by buyers' clubs, standard practice in developed nations ensures superior drug quality.
• Empirical Validation for Centralized Procurement: Pooled procurement offers tangible benefits, from cost reduction to efficient allocation of healthcare funds and drug availability.
• Immediate Implementation Essential: Centralized procurement is a potent solution that India should swiftly adopt on a large scale.

Context:

An inordinate number of species have been included in the new schedules of the Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Act, 2022, with no consultation, process or logic.

Conservation Dilemma

• Unsubstantiated Listing: The new Wildlife Protection Act includes numerous species without a transparent, replicable process.
• Prioritization Predicament: Over 2,600 species listed, making resource allocation for conservation efforts unclear and unfeasible.
• Unintended Legal Consequences: Inclusion of common species, like spotted deer, can lead to counterproductive conservation outcomes.

Impact on Communities and Livelihoods

• Threat to Public Safety: Schedule 1 species, including crocodiles and leopards, pose risks to human lives, livelihoods, and mental well-being.
• Disregard for Local Interests: New Act raises concern by upgrading wild pigs and nilgai to Schedule 1, potentially hindering culling policies vital for farmers.
• Restrictive View on Traditional Practices: Act limits hunting and animal use, even when traditionally practiced, without considering local communities' livelihoods.

Implications

• Research Hindrance: Cumbersome permit processes for research could stifle scientific endeavors, affecting environmental NGOs and citizen science.
• Need for Balanced Approach: Balancing conservation, public safety, and research priorities requires nuanced policy adjustments.
• Ethical Treatment of Animals: Both citizens and ecologists should observe nature ethically and collect data responsibly.