REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN INDIA: New Evidence

Despite far-reaching changes in policy and programming aimed at improving reproductive and sexual health conditions in India, the last decade has seen mixed results in areas ranging from maternal health to sexual violence, service delivery to gender inequality.

This comprehensive volume presents 19 pioneering studies, each offering key insights that enhance our understanding of a broad range of sexual and reproductive health issues in the Indian context. Topics range from maternal reproductive health, infertility, abortion and treatment-seeking behaviour to sexual relationship formation, men’s sexual health, coercive sex, and spousal communication. Findings also highlight the situation and needs of such vulnerable populations as adolescents, street children and the urban and rural poor. By maintaining an emphasis on community and client perspectives, these studies provide crucial information on colloquial understandings of symptoms and treatment-seeking along with experiences of morbidity and public versus private service utilization.

This collection of research findings represents a significant step forward in the understanding of sexual and reproductive health issues in India. It provides useful insights for health policy development and public and NGO sector programming as well as highlights gaps in evidence and priority issues that remain to be researched. This volume represents a valuable resource for policy makers and programme implementers, as well as researchers and public health advocates.

Michael A. Koenig is Professor in the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. His research over the past two decades has focused primarily upon family planning and reproductive health issues in India and Bangladesh.

Shireen Jejeebhoy is a Senior Programme Associate at the Population Council in New Delhi. Her research has focused on gender issues and adolescent sexual and reproductive health and development. Dr. Jejeebhoy previously worked as Scientist in Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction in the Department of Reproductive Health and Research at the World Health Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland.

John C. Cleland has been Professor of Medical Demography at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine since 1993. His research interests include fertility and family planning, child mortality and women’s health, with a focus on South Asia and Africa.

Bela Ganatra is Senior Research and Policy Advisor, Asia region for Ipas. Dr. Ganatra’s research interests include medical abortion, reproductive health of adolescents, quality of abortion care and qualitative research methodologies.