NEW DELHI: India accounts for almost one quarter of the pregnancy related deaths in the world, World Bank said in a report released recently.
“India has about 15 percent of world’s population but accounts for almost 25 percent of world’s maternal deaths,” it said.
The report, entitled “Improving Women’s Health in India,” was formally released in New Delhi. “Although government programs in India have gone a long way in reducing the number of women dying from maternity related causes, the number of pregnancy related deaths in rural India is among the world’s highest,” it said. “About two million women and children die each year because of poor maternal health services in India,” senior World Bank health specialist Anne Tinker said, Low female literacy, inadequate and poor female health care and a strong bias towards male babies were key factors, affecting female mortality. Government statistics say 39 percent of Indian women are literate, Tinker, the principal author of the report, said government spending on public health represented 1.3 percent of gross domestic product, one of the lowest rates in the world.
Fetus sex determination tests revealed a distinct bias against women, Tinker said. In many cases pregnant women are made to undergo an abortion if tests show a female fetus. Many Indian couples prefer boy: to girls because they believe boys will eventually earn more money” because some families still must pay large amounts of dowry when daughters marry.
Female education along with a more focused family welfare program would help to improve female health care in India, the World Bank Said. The government should collaborate with nongovernmental organization, mainly women groups, to increase access of healthcare services to.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 3, 1996
