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In India, 45,000 women die during childbirth every year--one every 10 minutes, accounting for 17% of maternal deaths in the world. Further, 300,000 babies born in India do not survive the first 24 hours after birth. Much of this can be prevented if expectant mothers are given better care--if they undergo regular check-ups, have the right vaccinations on time, and seek early medical attention in case of complication. Here’s how a mobile voice-message service, mMitra, used by 1.6 million women across nine Indian states, is helping bring about that change.
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Delaying Babies, Using Toilets Could Undo Anaemia Crisis
BY SHREYA KHAITAN
Improved sanitation facilities and delayed pregnancy in India could reduce the rates of anaemia in pregnant women faster. Prevalence of anaemia--low blood haemoglobin level--in pregnant women in India (50%) is higher than in all South Asian countries except Pakistan. Anaemia, which impacts half of Indian women of reproductive age, increases the risk for maternal mortality, infection, preterm delivery, and poor foetal and infant health, and puts children at lifelong risk for poor cognitive development and physical growth.
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Kerala, along with three other southern states, has protested the details of the 15th Finance Commission, which makes the 2011 population census the critical factor in deciding how central taxes will be shared. Kerala may receive less than 2% of central tax revenues due to its low population, achieved through efficient population control. IndiaSpend speaks to Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac, who has emerged as the voice of the southern dissenters, on sharing tax revenues, his objection to the manner in which GST is being implemented, and Kerala’s falling remittances and increasing geriatric population.
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Proposed Law To Give Citizens Control Of Digital Health Data
BY MADHUR SINGH
A new law proposed by India's health ministry for data security in the healthcare sector would give individuals complete ownership of their digital health data. Individuals would have the absolute right to refuse or allow data to be generated, collected, accessed, transmitted or used. And data collectors such as hospitals would be prohibited from refusing treatment to those who do not want their digital data collected or used.
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Smaller Indian Cities Better At Managing Waste Than Larger Ones
BY BHASKER TRIPATHI
Some of India’s smallest cities, such as Vengurla and Panchgani in Maharashtra, and mid-level cities, such as Alappuzha and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, are more efficient at managing waste among similarly populated or bigger cities, according to a recently released report on 20 cities from 10 states. Parts of the National Capital Region--East Delhi, South Delhi and Gurugram--were among the worst. Among cities with a million people or more, Indore and Mysuru were the best performers.
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Only 4.75M Join India’s Workforce Annually, Not 12M As Claimed
BY SABINA DEWAN
How many people enter India’s labour force every year? Did you eagerly shout out “12 million!”? If so, you would be among the many--including policy experts--who cite the wrong number. Answering a fundamental question incorrectly points to a serious problem in addressing India’s jobs challenge--the lack of regular, reliable and recent labour market data on which to base policy.
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Have a good governance story that deserves to be featured?
Tell us about it at: samar@indiaspend.org
Sincerely,
Samar Halarnkar
Editor
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