Bhubaneswar: With the coming into force of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021 and for the objective of easing the process of Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) for pregnant women (with more than 24 weeks of pregnancy), the Odisha Government has decided to constitute Medical Boards at 11 more Government Medical Colleges & PG institute to avail the service of the Medical Board in time, apart from the one existing at SCB Medical College & Hospital, Cuttack.
The new Medical Boards will be constituted at MKCG Medical College & Hospital, Berhampur; VSS Medical College & Hospital, Burla; FM Medical College & Hospital, Balasore; PRM Medical College & Hospital, Mayurbhanj; BB Medical College & Hospital, Bolangir; SLN Medical College & Hospital, Koraput; Shree Jagannath Medical College & Hospital, Puri; Keonjhar Govt. Medical College & Hospital; Sundargarh Govt. Medical College & Hospital; AIIMS, Bhubaneswar; and PG Institute of Medical Education & Research, Bhubaneswar, said an official press release.
According to the press release, as per the provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (34 of 1971), for referring MTP cases of pregnant women, the State Government had constituted a Medical Board for the State at SCB Medical College & Hospital, Cuttack, for allowing or denying termination of pregnancy beyond 24 weeks of the gestation period, after due consideration and ensuring that the procedure would be safe for the woman at that gestation age. The MTP cases from all over the State had to be referred to the Board for taking a decision in a time-bound manner.
It was difficult as well as time-consuming for such cases, referred from places far off from Cuttack, to approach the Medical Board at Cuttack for termination of pregnancy & to avail timely assistance/services of the Board at SCB Medical College & Hospital, Cuttack.
Hence, the need for the constitution of multiple Medical Boards for the purpose was felt.
