As sex ratio worsens, Plan panel makes taboo proposal As the first line of defence against female foeticide, sex determination tests on pregnant women have been illegal in India for years. But in what could end up as a major policy shift, the Planning Commission is proposing relaxing the ban for rural areas as part of a programme of “adopting” female foetuses and generously incentivising families and health workers to ensure the...

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...

-AP   Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nepal and some of the world’s other poorest countries helped lead the way over the past year as U.N. member states began meeting their unprecedented pledge of more than $40 billion for maternal and child health, a new study of the spending says. The spending report is being released Tuesday at a high-level event chaired by U.N. Secretary-General Mr. Ki-moon, who has made raising money for the health of...

China has reduced deaths among newborn Babies by almost two-thirds in little over a decade — an unprecedented success rate that a new study says holds lessons for countries like India still struggling with high neonatal and maternal mortality rates. Deaths among newborn Babies fell from 24.7 per 1,000 in 1996 to 9.3 in 2008 — a 62-per-cent decrease — according to a paper published in The Lancet medical journal on...

-Rediff.com   Despite a significant increase in women and child healthcare in India, more than nine lakh children in the country still die every year before becoming one-month-old, says a new global report. The study, conducted by experts at the World Health Organisation, Save the Children and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, is said to be the most comprehensive estimate to date, covering all 193 WHO member countries and...