The nation wants to know how often teenagers pop the emergency contraceptive pill. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will support and finance research projects that will look at the pill's use and overuse. Emergency Contraceptive Pills (ECPs) are used to prevent pregnancy following an unprotected act of sexual intercourse within 72 hours. The council has called for research proposals by December 31 on emergency contraception, especially those that will look...

Focussing on population stabilisation and meeting the unmet demands of contraceptives, the mission steering group (MSG) of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) on Tuesday decided to utilise Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) for delivery of contraceptives at the homes of beneficiaries. For this, ASHAs can charge Re. 1 for a pack of 3 condoms, Re. 1 for an Oral Contraceptive Pill (OCP) cycle and Rs. 2 for an Emergency...

Women speak out fears of resisting deep-seated taboos associated with menstruation, viewed even today as polluting in much of India The status of women in India, despite all the brave talk, remains as precarious as ever. This is, after all, a culture which not just condones, but actively encourages the termination of foetuses determined to be female. Other crimes of violence against women are routine. Can things ever change? We took...

The Kerala government has decided to detoxify' Kasaragod district which has been bearing the brunt of indiscriminate spraying of the highly toxic endosulfan in cashew plantations for the last two decades. All highly toxic Red and Yellow categories of pesticides, including endosulfan, will be banned in the district and the soil and water bodies will be frequently monitored for pesticide content to enable remedial measures, state agriculture minister Mullakkara Retnakaran told...

Writes to Azad expressing concern over its inclusion in public health programme The Union government's decision to allow the use of injectable contraceptives, as part of the public health programme in the country, would be a harmful step that will affect the health of women, Member of Parliament and Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat has said. In a letter to the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister...