Keralites are proud of the progress the state has made in the health sector. Even so, the ongoing lapses in Kerala’s health literacy continue to haunt everyopne. Despite being a land where modern medicine offers relatively good and affordable treatment, there is no shortage of fake medicine and witchcraft treatments here. Home births are a new danger that has been seen in the past few years. These childbirths are taking place in the name of alternative medicine, starting with naturopathy and acupuncture. Recent experiences testify that the dangers are not small. Many such tragedies have been reported in the last three years. The incident of a baby dying after a home birth near Tirur in Malappuram district in August 2022 was highly controversial. In February 2024, a young woman named Sameera Beevi and her baby also died during a home birth experiment near Karakkamandapam in Thiruvananthapuram. Last year, a similar incident took place in Chattipparamba, Malappuram. Now, Muhsina, a native of Edakkazhiyoor in Chavakkad, Thrissur district and her baby have lost their lives due to the same experiment.
In the last four years, about 25 deaths due to home birth have been reported in the state. This is a very high rate. This becomes clearer when we examine another statistic. According to the latest sample survey study (SRS) report, Kerala’s maternal mortality rate is 30. On the other hand, the number of home births in Kerala during the nine months from April 2024 to January 2025 was less than 350. Out of these, nine people died. Barring a few rare areas like some tribal villages in the state, treatment facilities are available everywhere else. Our three-tier health system is also of good quality. Yet, why do people choose to give birth at home, abandoning all these healthcare facilities? When searching for an answer to this question, one ends up in the alternative medicine lobbies that are creating death traps in labour rooms; especially fake acupuncture practitioners. These people adopt a completely primitive approach that has nothing to do with the acupuncture treatment method approved by the World Health Organization and widely popular in China. Their hallmark is their hostility to modern medical treatment methods. Therefore, they are not treating, but denying treatment. The experience of Muhsina, who died on March 19, illustrates this. Muhsina gave birth at home in January. The baby died on the sixth day; later, even after she developed an infection, her husband and relatives were not willing to provide Muhsina with the necessary treatment. The denial of treatment was based on the advice of a local fake acupuncture practitioner who had handled Muhsina’s childbirth. After the incident led to a case, Muhsina’s husband was remanded. Muhsina’s family held a press conference the other day demanding that a case be filed against her husband’s relatives and the notorious practitioner.
As requested by Muhsina’s relatives, a proper and comprehensive investigation into the matter will surely reveal more about this fake treatment mafia. This mafia has been providing treatment here under the name of acupuncture for a few years now. Acupuncture has still not been recognised by the government as an approved primary treatment method. However, the central government had issued an order in 2003 allowing it to operate on a limited basis as an ancillary treatment method. The order states that only postgraduate diploma holders in acupuncture with a recognised medical degree can practise it. In this regard, people with medical degrees such as MBBS and BHMS are practising here. However, none of this applies to the above-mentioned quacks. Many times, people who have not even received basic education in science are posing as acupuncture practitioners and doctors. These people carry the Bharat Sevak Samaj (BSS) certificate on their walls and provide treatment. The treatment provided by these quacks, who have no knowledge of medical science, has often ended in serious accidents and even deaths, and had earlier become major news. But it all ended as news. The problem with this is the inadequacy of our law. Since acupuncture does not involve a conventional drug-based system, it does not fall under the definition of treatment in existing legal frameworks, allowing quacks to often escape liability. This is likely to happen in Muhsina’s case as well. A government with the will could have taken some action under the new Health Act 2021. Unfortunately, whenever obstetric accidents were reported in the past, our health department, for no known reasons, did nothing. It has to be said that the current tragedies are a result of this. Therefore, strong legislation, as implemented in Maharashtra and West Bengal, is essential in this regard.