Form-‘F’ software for Ultrasound units launched

--Mandatory from 1st March

BHUBANESWAR: State Health and Family Welfare Department secretary PK Mohapatra launched the form- ‘F’ software under the Pre-conception Prenatal Diagnostics Techniques (PCPNDT) Act during the State Advisory Committee meeting held here on Monday. The software was developed by the department with technical and financial support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Under the PCPNDT Act, it is mandatory to fill in ‘form-F’ which captures medical history of every pregnant woman who undergoes an obstetric scan and submit to the District Appropriate Authority (DAA) by the 5th of every month. Incorrect and incomplete filing of ‘form-F’ and non-maintenance of medical records remains a major issue under the Act. On one hand, the software is aimed to facilitate the doctors and ultra sound units in easy recording and reporting of data as mandated under the Act and on the other it would help the appropriate authorities to analyse data and track discrepancies and defaulters.

The software which works both online and offline would be installed in all registered ultrasound units for use from February 2013. For new clinics the software would be provided at the time of registration by the DAA. Odisha is the second State after Maharashtra to have form ‘F’ software under the PCPNDT Act in the country.

The department has constituted four State-level task forces to regularly conduct inspection of the functioning of ultra sound units. During the last six months 27 clinics have been raided and 15 clinics sealed for violations of the provisions under the PCPNDT Act. The State has so far filed 34 cases under violation of PCPNDT Act with three convictions.

Four districts- Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Ganjam and Anugul that have large numbers of ultrasound clinics and low sex ratios have been supported by district PCPNDT units with the support of UNFPA and another 10 districts would have these units soon functional with NRHM support.

Notably, the State witnessed an alarming decline of Child Sex Ratio (CSR) as evident from the provisional census data 2011 (from 953 to 934). Four districts, Anugul, Dhenkanal, Nayagarh and Ganjam have a CSR of less than 900 points, which should have been 950 as per natural trends. Further, about 10 districts have witnessed a decline of 30 to 50 points which is a serious concern.