-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Government may face some tough questions during the monsoon session of Parliament with its ambitious national AIDS control program in jeopardy due to the lack of funds. At least 15 states have reported severe shortage of free condoms, while five to six of them have announced they are out of stock, sources said. Though shortages have been continuing for over a year now, many states like...

-Hindustan Times On World Population Day today, the ministry of health and family welfare should be congratulated for committing to enlarge the scope of contraceptive choices to rejuvenate the family planning programme in the country. This move fulfils the long awaited need for expanding the basket of choice in the public healthcare system. To deliver quality family planning services in a spirit of voluntarism and within a rights and accountability framework, the...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: A practically broke Maharashtra State Aids Control Society (MSACS) has asked NGOs to curtail their HIV prevention activities in the state and do away with a significant chunk of their workforce. Over 182 projects that cater to nearly three lakh high-risk population in the state will suffer as distribution of condoms and syringes to availability of medicines and testing kits will take a direct hit. The circular...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Despite the botched Chhattisgarh sterilization the number of women who underwent sterilization surgery increased by 36% even as male sterilizations dropped to below 25% last year. According to health ministry data accessed through RTI the number of female sterilizations has increased from 30.22 lakh in 2012-2013 to 41.28 lakh in 2013-2014. Male sterilizations-which were already low-dropped further from 1.20 lakh to 91,652 in the same period. A...

-Down to Earth Health experts blame Centre's over-emphasis on women's sterilisation for the Chhattisgarh tragedy THERE WAS nothing right about the sterilisation camp held on November 8 in Chhattisgarh's Takhatpur block of Bilaspur district. An overambitious government doctor-with unsterilised equipment and virtually no manpower-set out to conduct laparoscopic tubectomy on 83 women in an abandoned private hospital. The mass sterilisation led to the death of 13 women and left others critically ill. They were...