Concerns with Oxytocin Ban

What is the issue?

• The Union Health Ministry has recently decided to restrict the production and sale of oxytocin. Click here to know more
• The rationale of the decision is contested and the ban is expected to have severe public health consequences.

What is the key reason?

• The ban is primarily motivated by the misuse of the hormone in the dairy industry.
• Oxytocin stimulates lactation in cattle.
• Dairy farmers thus inject the drug indiscriminately to increase milk production.
• This has increased the unlicensed facilities that are manufacturing the drug for veterinary use.
• There is also a concern that oxytocin led to infertility in dairy animals.
• It has also been linked to mastitis, a painful inflammation of the udder (mammary gland).
• Another concern is the exposure of milk consumers to oxytocin drug through dairy products.

Why is oxytocin crucial?

• Nearly 45,000 Indian women die due to causes related to childbirth each year.
• Oxytocin, a synthetic version of a human hormone, is a life-saver for these women.
• It is used to induce labour in pregnant women and to stall postpartum bleeding.
• The World Health Organization recommends it as the drug of choice in postpartum haemorrhage.
• The ban thus seems to be ignoring this critical role of oxytocin in maternal health.

What are the contentions?

• Validity - There are some studies that add validity to the above concerns of ill-effects of oxytocin on cattle.
• However, the science behind these claims is unclear and is not properly established.
• The National Dairy Research Institute has said that there was no evidence that oxytocin led to infertility.
• Another research claims that oxytocin content in buffalo milk did not alter with injections.
• However, even if the ill-effects of oxytocin are real, a ban is not the right solution.
• Shortage - Manufacture of the drug only by a single public sector unit could lead to drug shortages and price hikes.
• The right approach would have been to strengthen regulation and crack down on illegal production.
• Monopolising production will only remove the low-price options from the market.

Source: The Hindu