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Thursday, November 12, 2009
hen doctors at the local pri-mary health centre inBanda. Uttar Pradesh. wereunable to stop her bleeding. Phuli. 28, was moved to the Bandadistrict hospital and then to the hospital in Kanpur. But here she was denied life-saving care and gave birth outside the hospital gates. While the baby died within an hour. Phuli died later that night.Did Phuli need to die? Could she have been saved if she had not been the wife of a daily wage labourer belonging to a marginalised community? Would she have survived if she knew that the symptoms of blood loss were not normal or that sp'e was seriously sick? Why is it that over 75.000 women continue to die from pregnancy-related causes in India each year? Can the health system be made legally accountable? These were some of the concerns raised at a recent meeting in New Delhi to discuss Maternal Health, Human Rights and Law. as a part of the nationwide ICPD + 15 (International Conference o,nPopulation and Development) Gains and Gaps review process."In India, there is one maternal, death every five minutes, These are preventable deaths. There is no justification for maternal mortality. India has more than 300 maternal deaths for every 100.000 live births. In Sri Lanka, the corresponding figure is 56. in China it is 45. in Namibia. 210 and in Egypt. 130. The biggest cause is discrimination and the lack of equality that prevents women from accessing information and services. However, women should not remain objects of interventions but also be empowered." contends Anand Gover. UN Special Rapporteur on Right to Health.Litigation can become a tool to empower women by making maternal health a right says Jasodhara Dasgupta (in the pic above). member of the steering group for ICPD+ 15 review. "Equity has to become a marker for measuring ·maternal mortality. Less than 50 per cent of women give birth with the assistance of a skilled attendant and only 40 per cent of deliveries occur in an institutional setting. Even access to maternal health varies by state. So while in West Bengal over 90 per cent receive antenatal care. only 34 per cent receive it in ~ihar." she informs.But maternal health is not only about numbers. It is about a woman's dignity and her right to health - two reasons why accountability is needed. Maternal mortality is symptomatic of a deeply ingrained gender inequality. feels Melissa Upreti (In the pic to the right). senior legal advisor of the Centre for Reproductive Rights, an international NGO. "India has -taken many. steps to reduce maternal mortality including the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). but it lacks effective monitoring and enforcement. This has undermined the country's efforts. Human rights law and the Constitution provide a strong basis for lawyers to demand change and hold the government accountable for maternal deaths." she says.CRR (Center for Reproductive Rights), which uses the law to underline reproductive freedom as a fundamental right to all governments, launched a global initiative in
Silverstone: Brimming with confidence after his top 10 finish in Valencia, Force India driver Adrian Sutil expects the new updates to bridge the gap that separates his team from its maiden Formula One points in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.After the upgrades debuted in the European Grand Prix, both the V JM02 cars fmished inside top 12 and Sutilrevealed it has indeed made a difference."It was a very simple track, it just goes straight on, so you don't need a lot of downforce. But I think we gained about half a second, and it should be even morein Spa," Sutilsaid.Describing Spa as one of his favourite tracks, the German said Force India might break its point duck there. "Spa I think is our circuit," he said. "We were quite good there last year, andthis year must be much, much better. I'll be happy with a dry weekend. The circuit is amazing in the dry, and our car is now good. I want to see how our update works there," Sutil said.Looking back, Sutil drew lot of confidence from his show in Valencia and said it was great to run wheel-to-wheel with some of the top teams. "I think it was a strong race, and I'm really happy with it. I have done a few other races which were similar and maybe even had a better position. But here almost nobody retired. And it was a dry race, and normally we're strong in the wet races," he explained. PTI
Maria aims to be no. 1 again But Russian Star Downplays Chances At The US Open
0 comments Posted by Tip at 5:13 PMOakland (California): Maria Sharapova has downplayed her chances of winning a second US Open crown this year after returning from shoulder surgery but believes sh.e can go on to regain the world number one spot."With every tournament I feel physically I'm getting better and getting a good sense of the court but it's still a work in progress," the three-times Grand Slam winner said ahead of the fmal major of the season which begins onMonday. "I'd like to forget I was gone for a long time but you have to put things in perspective."The 22-year-old Russian, whoonly returned to singles action in May after a nine-month layoff, said while she would certainly give the US Open her best shot andwas "absolutely" sure of climbing back to the tennis summit."I'm a competitor and have played many tournaments and won quite a few," said Sharapova, who first claimed the world number one spot in 2005. "You want to be the winner and if someone tells you otherwise they wouldn't be telling the truth."While the Russianhas not won any titles since her comeback, she has beaten world number seven Vera Zvonareva, eighth-ranked Victoria Azarenka and number 13 Nadia Petrova and seems to beimproving every week.The Russian reached the LA Championships semis and on Sunday lost the Toronto Cup fmal to compatriot and world number four Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-3. "I think it was a really great week for me," Sharapova said. REUTERS
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