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The meeting, chaired by the Director-General of Health Services (DGHS), however, decided against making the pills prescription drugs. They will continue to be sold over the counter.
“There is no harm in such advertisements, but the message should be clear,” a senior official in the Health Ministry told The Indian Express. “These ads suggest that the pills can just be popped within a stipulated time, so teenagers have started using them as a regular contraceptive method. It has become necessary to inform them about the pros and cons of these pills.”
The DGHS has formed an expert committee of gynaecologists that will decide on the mandatory “educational information” that must accompany ads, and suggest modifications after consulting with the pharma industry. “Ads must include side effects of the pills, and the minimum interval to be maintained between doses,” said a member of the expert committee.
The Ministry official added: “Our view is that the message should be clear. These are emergency contraceptives and should be used for that purpose only.”
The Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), an umbrella organization of medical practitioners in the field, had earlier expressed concerns over the likely misuse of the pills. Critics had expressed apprehension that their easy availability would promote unsafe sex and result in an increased incidence of sexually transmitted diseases.
Some gynaecologists suspect the easy availability of the pills could be resulting in a certain complacency that is reflected in a rising trend of teenage pregnancies in urban India.
“Due to these advertisements, teenagers feel they are protected. They openly tell that they have been taking the pills repeatedly. There has been an approximately 20 per cent increase in teenage pregnancy rates in the last three years,” said Dr Anuradha kapur, senior consultant, Max Hospital.
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C,mon INDIA we need to move ahead into the 21st century and what we need today in every one,s mind is just lust and sex ,from tv ads to hoardings,from newsroom to newpaper,from movies to TV serials alomost all get us into one things that,s lust and sex and closing in on our rich heritage which our great country INDIA preserved for centuries but now the tables have turned and its only money , money and money all the way and everything SELLS ,so what,s a mere pill do is just that our kids will go into sexual trend bcos they already have a very good defence and only this will give rise to unlimited after shocks and that in turn will make us moving and we educated people call it ADVANCING AND PROGRESS IN OUR COUNTRY.
dude these things have been happening for ages, its just that now its being discussed openly.The rich heritage you talk about was basically suppressing these things aka hypocrisy.
As if the other drugs are not over the counter...cmon..you must be kidding me.. it is so easy to get a drug in india.. there is not prescription verification. It is not even the pharmacist giving the medications, its mostly some person with a pinch bit of information about the names of drugs.. The pharmaceutical care system is horrible in India..