Improving women's health in India
Hammer,Jeffrey S.
India is one of the few countries where males significantly outnumber females, and whose maternal mortality rates in rural areas are among the highest in the world. This book examines the health problems of India's women and the programs designed to meet their needs. It provides a background for the World Bank's discussions with the Indian government on further developing public, voluntary, and private sector capacity to address these problems. The report examines the indicators of women's health status in India--infant and young child mortality, maternal mortality, morbidity, fertility, and occupational and social influences on health--and analyzes the primary factors affecting women's well-being. These factors include women's social status and education, the preference for sons, the type of labor imposed on women, and the characteristics of India's traditional health systems. The book lists measures necessary to address existing policy and implementation constraints and to improve the quality, acceptability, and utilization of services essential to women's health. It focuses on the role of the public health sector--the provision of family planning, preventive health, and nutrition services to the majority of India's vast rural population--although it recognizes the increasingly important roles played by both the private voluntary and for-profit sectors in the delivery of health care services. This report identifies workable strategies for improving the health and nutrition of India's girls and women, and concludes that focused efforts to improve the health and overall status of females will provide substantial benefits in terms of human welfare, poverty alleviation, and economic growth.
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