India to ban female sterilisation with malaria drug

The Indian drug control agency has decided to ban the use of the antimalarial drug quinacrine for female sterilisation. The decision, announced last week, follows a petition by activists alleging that more than 30000 women in India have been sterilised with quinacrine over the past five years without the approval of health authorities.

Quinacrine has been used as an antimalarial drug for nearly five decades. Quinacrine pellets inserted into the uterus can lead to fibrosis and block …