In a boon for India’s women and girls, the Centre has made feminine hygiene products tax-free. The decision was announced more than a year after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) imposed a twelve percent duty on menstrual pads. The levy sparked controversy, as items such as bindi, bangles and sindoor were classed as “essential” …
For Indian women and girls, period tax is now a thing of the past Read More »
India is a safer country to be a mother than it was twenty years ago. Could a new version of the drug carbetocin make it even safer? In 1990, 556 Indian mothers lost their lives for every one lakh (100,000) live births. 2016 saw this figure drop by 77 percent to 130 deaths for every …
Carbetocin: A new weapon in the fight against maternal mortality? Read More »
Social media is abuzz with reports of two famous Bollywood actors announcing their diagnosis of cancer. The stories have elicited emotional outburst all across the country and again brought to light India’s tough battle with cancer. First Irrfan Khan — star of over fifty Bollywood films and numerous international box office hits — announced in …
Bollywood cancer cases shine light on national crisis Read More »
This article was originally published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission. By Nimeshika Jayachandran “Adilabad used to have a high rate of maternal mortality, especially among the tribal women. So many of them were just young girls really. They get married young and when they became pregnant, it was difficult for …
How Telangana brought down its Maternal Mortality Rate through a sustained campaign Read More »
By Nimeshika Jayachandran This article was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission. When Sharada* had her first child three years ago, she hadn’t expected the turmoil she would experience post-delivery. “I remember looking down at this baby, and just feeling so overwhelmed with sadness. I felt hopeless and I …
How stigma keeps new moms from getting treated for postpartum depression Read More »
Approximately 172 women die every day in India due to cervical cancer. According to the Indian Council for Scientific Research (CSIR), more than 63,000 women in India died of the disease in 2015. This is despite cervical cancer being 80 percent preventable, often treatable and having a high survival rate if caught in its early …
Gender discrimination and missing women The price of gender discrimination in India is the lives of almost 240,000 girls under five every year. Much attention is given in India to the issue of female foeticide. Sex-selective abortions are considered the major driver of India’s skewed sex ratio at birth (SRB) and its resultant 63 million …
The Indian government will sell its own brand of menstrual pad, for just a third of the market price. The new sanitary napkins are called ‘Suvidha.’ They will be sold through the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP). This is a campaign which aims to bring down out-of-pocket healthcare spending by making affordable medicines available to …
Government to sell menstrual pads at a third of market price Read More »
Controversy continues over the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine used to prevent cervical cancer in women. Reports suggest India’s health ministry will not include it under the country’s universal immunisation programme (UIP). Estimates suggest 1 in 53 women in India will develop cervical cancer in their lifetime. It is believed 423.2 million women aged fifteen and …
Controversy continues over HPV vaccine and cervical cancer Read More »
The gender gap is widening in India. It ranks 108 of 144 countries on the 2017 World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report – dropping 21 places from last year, which saw India ranked 87th. Failing to break the top 100 The WEF measures countries across four indicators: educational attainment, economic participation and opportunity, …
India failing its women on health, as the gender gap widens Read More »
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