A writ has been filed with the High Court seeking its directives to stop unnecessary caesarean operations from being performed.
Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Syed Sayedul Haque Suman took permission—to file the writ—from the High Court bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and KM Kamrul Kader, on Tuesday afternoon.
Two Secretaries— of both divisions of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare—, the President of the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council, and the Director General of the Directorate of Health Service have been made respondents to the writ.
The writ seeks a ruling from the High Court as to why the authorities concerned are not taking action to stop unnecessary caesarean operations from being declared illegal; and also seeks directives to temporarily shut down private hospitals and clinics that are involved with such activities during the hearing of the writ petition.
According to a report published by Save the Children, 70% of all C-section operations—or more than 570,000—were medically unnecessary.
The writ petitioner attached a report done by BBC Bangla, published on June 21, that details the harmful effects of unnecessary C-sections and the recent increase in numbers of caesarean operations in Bangladesh.
