PMC,IMA to get software to check sex determination

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) will also develop a software to help doctors fill Form F online. The Form F records the details of a pregnant woman. Since March this year,some 13 cases have been registered against doctors for incorrect and incomplete filling of Form F.

The proposal will be submitted to the PMC,said in-charge of the Pre-Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act cell of the IMA Dr Vaijayanti Patwardhan. A presentation was made by software companies on how to fill Form F.

Doctors with the IMA also sought a solution to the problem of sonography machines being sealed for technical reasons like spelling errors and other mistakes.

According to the IMA city unit president Dr Ambarish Shahade,“We need to eliminate manual errors and hence the software will ensure that the form is completely filled.’’ For instance,if something is not filled in the form then the software will not allow the application to proceed further. To ensure that the system is foolproof and is not misused by anyone,there will be just one print command and no more reprint copies,said Patwardhan.

“The software will generate data about the ante natal care mothers who have gone for doctors visits in the first and last trimester of pregnancy. It will also help us track those who did not attend the second trimester,the period when the sex determination tests are done,” said IMA doctors.

In the last couple of years,39 cases have been filed against doctors violating the PC-PNDT Act,out of which 17 have been resolved. Out of that 14 cases have been decided in favour of the local appropriate authority implementing the Act.