Better care has cut the number of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth by nearly half in the past two decades, but there is still a death every two minutes, according to UN figures released yesterday.

India and Nigeria between them accounted for one third of the 287,000 deaths of pregnant women in 2010 and Africa accounts for 36 of the 40 countries with the highest maternal deaths.

But health experts hailed the 47% fall in fatalities from 543,000 in 1990, and said the strategy for saving more lives was clear.

LUCKNOW: The state government will make a presentation on the National Rural Health Mission before the Union health ministry's project approval board on Thursday. The presentation will decide the allocations for UP for the financial year 2012-13. The proposal was finalized in the NRHM general body meeting held in mid-April. Headed by chief secretary Jawed Usmani, the apex body of NRHM approved the project implementation plan (PIP) worth Rs 3787.57 crore for the new fiscal. In 2011-12, UP's plan size for NRHM was about Rs 3,127 crore.

When the Lokayukta Police raided the palatial house of director (medical services) A N Mittal in Bhopal last week, his agitated wife dared them to target his political bosses to whom, she said, he periodically pays Rs 1 crore and “not small fry like us”. Her embarrassed husband had to silence her and take her inside. “Small fry” Mittal had property in excess of Rs 50 crore, according to preliminary estimates. The raid revealed not only the family’s taste for expensive personal accessories but the luxurious lifestyle their pet dogs, too, led in air-conditioned rooms.

Noted population expert T. V. Antony has expressed concern over the increasing population in Rajasthan, saying it would adversely affect the State's growth rate and reduce livelihood opportunities significantly in the near future.

Mr. Antony, who is State adviser to the Rajiv Gandhi Population & Health Mission, said at a meeting of medical officers in Alwar on Wednesday that any programme for population control can succeed only with proper awareness among the rural populace. The departments concerned will also need to work in mutual coordination, he added.

NEW DELHI: Officials in Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) seem to have "colluded with private interests" to get the controversial drug Letrozole approved in India "in a clear violation of laws" for use against infertility. Now, the parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare has asked the Union health ministry to take action against those who were involved.

Though globally the drug is used for treatment of breast cancer, in India it was being administered to young infertile women to help them conceive.

Population has started to swell in Delhi’s suburbs. Gurgaon and Noida (Gautam Buddha Nagar) are among the top five places in India that recorded the highest decadal growth rate in population.
While Gurgaon recorded a 74% rise in population between 2001 and 2011, Noida saw a rise by almost 52%, followed by Ghaziabad at 40.66%. India saw a 17.6% increase in population over the decade. Kurung Kumey — a small district in Arunachal Pradesh bordering China — recorded the highest decadal increase in population at 111%, followed by Yanam in Puducherry at 77.15%.

The infant mortality rate in Pakistan is very high and there has been no decline in malnutrition rate in children under the age of 5 over the past 30 years, health specialists agreed on Sunday.

They were speaking at a dialogue forum on 'Political Parties & The Health of People of Sindh Election 2013' organised by Pakistan Medical Association.

Women's Action Forum, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Pakistan Reproductive Health Network, Aurat Foundation, People Health Movement, Ahung and Shirkat Gah collaborated in this regard.

Women and impoverished, illiterate tribals fall prey to Madhya Pradesh’s overweening family planning zeal
Birth Control

Bijlipur (Punjab): For some time now, the village of Bijlipur has been attracting a slew of local news TV crews and even reporters from Canadian radio stations. The village has something that most of Punjab can’t boast of: a sex ratio in favour of women.

With the recent data suggesting a substantial drop in the Total Fertility Rate of India (TFR), the health ministry has decided to lay more emphasis on spacing rather than limiting the children. With this aim in mind, the Union ministry is all set to launch a new birth control intrauterine device (IUD) — Suraksha 5 — that gives infection free protection for 5 years.