The maternal mortality ratio has declined in India in recent years according to recently unveiled Sample Registration System (SRS) data, boding good news for the nation’s mothers. According to the figures, since 2013 maternal mortality has declined from 77 deaths per every lakh live births to seventy deaths for every lakh live births in southern […]
development
Maharashtra government in the firing line from experts on health
The Maharashtra government is in the firing line for its performance on health indicator by experts, who claim that the outward appearance of progress belies the truth of the government’s performance. “The last five years tell the story of lost opportunities as far as the health sector is concerned,” said Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (People’s Health […]
CNNS: Malnutrition’s continued burden in India
Malnutrition continues to be a significant public health and development burden in India, impacting the health of the nation’s children in manifold ways – as the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) reminds us. Recent Union Health Ministry data, based on the findings of the CNNS which was conducted between 2014 and 2018, found high prevalences […]
Malnutrition: Responsible for two-thirds of child deaths
Malnutrition was responsible for almost seventy percent of child deaths in India in 2017, a recent review of data has revealed. Every state in India lost more lives of children under five to malnutrition than to any other cause, the review revealed, with 68.2 percent of total child deaths in the country caused by malnourishment. […]
Sex ratio at birth: Improvements made?
India’s sex ratio at birth has improved, according to Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani. However, such a claim seems very much dependent on the figures used. Irani credited the Centre’s Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Save Daughter, Educate Daughter) initiative with the improvement while speaking at an event last Friday. The disparity […]
Will India achieve the SDGs on health?
India’s aim to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on Health seems likely to be unattainable by 2030, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has said. The main reason it identifies behind this is India’s ability to achieve public health expenditure targets, as the country faces a relative dearth of data […]
India’s population growth: Explosion or slowdown?
Is the government planning to bring in a law on population regulation? Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statements cautioning India over what he called its ‘reckless population explosion’ may be a hint. Does India need such a law when it is staring at a slowdown? “Population explosion has been occuring at an unrestrained pace. This population […]
The district highlighting India’s sex ratio problem
A district in Uttarakhand reflects a broader issue concerning India’s sex ratio, according to a recent report in The Times of India. In 132 of the Uttarkashi district’s villages, not a single girl was born in three months out of 216 deliveries. The concerning figures, collected from the state health department, potentially cast a spotlight […]
Sex-selective abortion in India: It’s worse than you think
At the age of 28, Madhuri had three daughters and no son. With a dream to have a son and to fulfil her family’s demands, she became pregnant again. But this time she couldn’t take any chance and illegally undertook a sex determination test. As soon as she was told that it is a girl, […]
Money for tribals diverted to their destructors?
Is the money meant for tribals being diverted to a cause that would only help in their displacement? According to a report published by The Wire on the basis of several right to information (RTI) queries filed by the portal, funds in the tribal sub-plan are being diverted for ‘other works.’ The Planning Commission had […]