Absence of preventive measures and affordable and accessible health care leads to nearly 500 encephalitis deaths in Uttar Pradesh. IT is a strange paradox. In a country that aspires to be a superpower and boasts of rapid economic growth, 488 children died in a State, Uttar Pradesh, from encephalitis alone this year. It is nothing less than a national shame and tragedy. In six districts of Bihar, close to 200 children...
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Paying the price: Institutional delivery costs keep pregnant women at home by Tanvi Nalin
With institutional healthcare being prohibitively expensive, more women in rural India are choosing to deliver at home than in hospitals and healthcare facilities, says a new report brought out by Chittorgarh-based NGO, Prayas, in partnership with Oxfam India. The 'Study of the trends in out-of-pocket payments in healthcare during National Rural Health Mission period (2005-2010)', released on October 12 in the national capital, was conducted across five Indian states - Assam,...
More »77 babies die of hunger every day in Maharashtra by Yogesh Pawar
According to the Maharashtra government's own figures, 18,486 children in the age group of 0-6 years have died of malnutrition this year alone (Jan-August 2011). The figure is quite high, say health ministry sources. In 2010, 12,792 children had died of hunger and malnutrition during the same period. But this year, 5,694 more babies than last year have starved to death. Most of the dead babies are adivasi children. The...
More »Maternal deaths in Jharkhand expose lacunae in facilities by Aarti Dhar
Lack of appropriate services at the healthcare facilities led to three maternal deaths in one block of Deoghar district of Jharkhand while seven others died due to lack of back up emergency facilities during delivery and mechanisms to deal with postpartum complications. These maternal deaths were reported from Devipur block between march 2010 and February this year. A Maternal Death Audit conducted by the Network for Enterprise, Enhancement and Development...
More »Tardy progress by TK Rajalakshmi
The rates of maternal and infant mortality have improved only marginally, according to the latest Sample Registration System. THE country's largest demographic sample survey, covering 1.4 million households and a population of 7.01 million, during the period 2007-09, says that there was only a mild improvement in the infant mortality rate (IMR) and the maternal mortality ratio (MMR). The findings of the latest Sample Registration System (SRS), an exercise which...
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