Title: Reproductive health in India's primary health care system.

POPLINE Document Number: 129026

Author(s):

Rao M

Source citation:

NATIONAL MEDICAL JOURNAL OF INDIA, 1997 May-Jun;10(3):134-8.

Abstract:

India's family planning program having reached a dead end, the government of India appointed an expert group to develop a new population policy for the country. While the group's report, submitted in May 1994, proclaimed a new orientation described as pro-poor, pro-nature, and pro-women, the recommendations of the report were criticized as not being serious about gender equity. The government of India, describing a new reproductive health care approach, envisions a paradigm shift in the family planning program strategy. Reproductive health is defined as a state in which people can reproduce and regulate their fertility, women are able to go through pregnancy and childbirth safely, the outcome of pregnancy is successful with regard to maternal and infant survival and well-being, and couples are able to have sexual relations free of the fear of pregnancy and of contracting disease. To further the discussion on the newly initiated reproductive health care approach, the faculty of the Center of Social Medicine and Community Health, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, organized a workshop for November 4-5, 1996, on the place of reproductive health in India's primary health care. The workshop brought together public health persons, clinicians, and health and women's rights activists. The author outlines the content of papers presented at the workshop.

Keywords:

India
Conferences and Congresses
Reproductive Health
Primary Health Care
Asia, Southern
Asia
Developing Countries
Health
Health Services
Delivery of Health Care