Social implications of women’s health status

By
Randeep Wadehra

It is a proven fact that that there is a strong symbiotic relationship between a mother’s health and that of her progeny’s. The reason is simple. An infant gets nourishment from its mother directly right from the pre-natal state to its toddler stage. Now, in India, a woman is not encouraged to have adequate nourishment. In many regions she lives in a semi-starved condition, if not worse. But, no sooner she gets pregnant than she is plied with all sorts of nutritious intakes in the mistaken belief that these would go directly to the infant (the zeal to provide such nourishment is redoubled if there is proof that the baby would be a male – something that has become possible thanks to the easy access to hi-tech diagnostics despite all sorts of laws forbidding gender related pregnancy tests). Unfortunately, such short term dietary excesses do not do much good to the mother or the child. Consequently, there is a real danger of India turning into a nation of weaklings.

Ironically, India is one of the few countries in the world where male and female infants have nearly the same life expectancy at birth. Yet, as they grow, female mortality rates simply zoom to unacceptable levels, indicating the society’s attitudinal and systemic problems with regard to women’s health. Indian women have high mortality rates, particularly during childhood and in their reproductive years. The health of Indian women is intrinsically linked to their status in society. Research on women’s status has found that the contributions Indian women make to families often are overlooked, and instead they are viewed as economic burdens. There is a strong preference for sons in India. This bias, along with high dowry costs, results in the ill-treatment of daughters. Further, Indian women have little autonomy, living under the control of first their fathers, then their husbands, and finally their sons. All of these factors exert a negative impact on the Indian women’s health status. Poor health has repercussions not only for women but also their families. Women in poor health are more likely to give birth to low-weight babies. They also are less likely to be able to provide food and adequate care for their children. Finally, a woman’s health affects the household economic welfare, as a woman in poor health would be more of an economic liability than asset.

Dr. R Kumar and Dr. Meenal Kumar, point out in their encyclopedia that baby girls are vulnerable to neglect, discrimination and decimation from pre-birth stage to all stages of their later lives.  (Till recently, there was no one-stop source of information regarding the state of women’s health in India. Whatever information was garnered through governmental surveys remained un-accessed – barring piecemeal essays by individual scholars that used certain portions of official statistics. Therefore, a comprehensive picture was difficult to come by. However, the Kumar couple’s labour of love fills in the gap admirably.  Compiling encyclopedias is a serious undertaking that can test one’s skills, stamina and knowledge to the full. Moreover, it is a costly exercise that can hardly be afforded by individuals. However, Chandigarh’s Dr. R. Kumar and his wife Dr. Meenal Kumar have come up with a 12 volume Encyclopedia of Women Health and Empowerment (Publishers: Deep & Deep). This should prove to be a rich and reliable resource for policy makers, researchers, social scientists and various NGOs in the relevant fields. Born in Haryana’s Keorak village, Dr. R. Kumar is an eminent eye-specialist in Chandigarh for the past 40 years. His wife, Dr. Meenal is a Senior Consultant Gynecologist and has authored books on female cancers, infertility, pregnancy, menopause etc. Despite being physically handicapped she remains active in her field.)

The growth of five star healthcare services in our cities, with facilities that match some of the best in the world, can easily delude us into believing that India’s healthcare is improving. Despite having over 17,000 hospitals, 24,000 primary health centres (PHCs) and 140,000 sub-centres as well as over five-and-a-half lakh registered allopathic doctors, 18 lakh children die every year before they reach five years of age. Most of these deaths are avoidable. In addition, 130,000 women die each year during childbirth and from pregnancy-related problems. Instead of declining, the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) increased in a decade from 424

1 2 >>