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India’s High Maternal Death Rate Can Be Cured
By Nisha Varia, WeNews commentator
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
(WOMENSENEWS)--A vibrant democracy with raging debates about health care. A country that prides itself on pioneering medical treatment but continues to see shocking disparities between the wealthy, who can afford expensive, quality care, and the poor, whose access to health care is spotty or simply nonexistent.
This is not the United States, it’s India.
Inequality is one reason why India contributes more deaths than any other country to the global figure of 500,000 women and girls dying from pregnancy, childbirth or unsafe abortion each year. India is responsible for a quarter of these maternal deaths, the vast majority of which are preventable.
New research by the international organization Human Rights Watch shows not only the woeful state of government health services for the rural poor in India, but also serious shortcomings in how authorities count maternal deaths, investigate their causes and avoid repeating the same mistakes.
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