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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
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