Press Institute of India-Ministry of Health and Family Welfare workshop on Advocacy of NRHM and Other Health Issues

Date: March 20-21, 2007
Venue: Hotel Maurya, Patna

A workshop to sensitise journalists on the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and other health issues was organised on March 20-21 by the Press Institute of India, in association with the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the UNFPA. The first day of this two-day session, aimed at increasing awareness on the dominant health issues in the country and to encourage more in-depth coverage in this sector, saw two informative and wide-ranging presentations. Journalists from all major newspapers and television channels in the city were present.
Dr Sarita Singh from the State Health Society, Bihar familiarised the journalists about the severe shortage of manpower and the lack of infrastructure especially at the grassroots level. She listed the significant growth in the number of patients visiting government facilities, who have traditionally preferred private doctors, as a proof of the difference the State has brought at the grassroots level.
The other major thrust of her presentation was the stringent measures the state health ministry is taking against absentee doctors and those having parallel practices, through data centres, which monitor the functioning of the doctors. She called for the support of the media in dealing with doctors who were making it difficult for the data centres to operate.
Mr Ram Prasad of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare highlighted the central government’s efforts to increase awareness on NHRM. Whether it is electronic media like radio and television or the communication tools of the local communities like folk traditions, according to the ministry official no source has been left untapped.
Mr Prasad said that private radio and television channels have also been used to promote the NRHM programmes like tobacco free initiative as well as to fight atrocities like female foeticide.
On the second day of the workshop, presentations were made by experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and various departments of the government.
The first speaker, Dr Jeevan from the WHO, gave an informative lecture on the role of implementing partners in the government’s health programme with specific focus on the polio vaccination drive and the factors that make the people of Bihar and UP more vulnerable to the disease than the rest of the states like large-scale migration. He also highlighted the achievements of the polio eradication drive and the confidence it has instilled in the agencies to tackle other endemic diseases.
Representatives from government agencies like Doordarshan and All India Radio gave a brief account of their efforts to create awareness on health-related issues.

Dr Manoranjan Jha, senior medical officer, from the regional office for the ministry of health and family welfare, government of India, held an interactive session on vector-borne diseases. He laid special stress on diseases like Kala Azar and Filaria, which has affected the state more severely. He revealed that the government plans to eradicate both by 2010 and 2015 respectively and described his department’s strategies to achieve the same.

Mr BP Mishra from Path Finder, a US-based organisation, described the challenges faced by the NGO when it decided to campaign for the use of contraceptives rather than delayed marriage. Yet, he claims that the NGO has registered impressive results in the area of reproductive health and family planning and requested the media to note the behavioural changes that has occurred among the people.

The last presentation was by Mr Swapan Majumdar from the Bihar Voluntary Health Association, who wanted its findings on subjects like the availability of potable drinking water in the state to be used by the media to pressurise the government for its intervention.

BRIEF REPORT ON WORKSHOP ON ADVOCACY OF NRHM AND OTHER HEALTH ISSUES, AT DEHRADUN, UTTARANCHAL FROM JULY 13-14, 2006.

The workshop commenced with a presentation by Dr. Bharati Dangwal, State NGO Coordinator, and Directorate of Medical Health & Family Welfare on the Role of NGOs in implementing NRHM in Uttaranchal. The Mother NGO Scheme was introduced in the 9th five year plan under the RCH Programme to assist the Government in implementing health care programmes. She informed that the NGO’s have an advantage in delivery of health care as they are familiar with the local socio-cultural-economic status of the people. She elaborated on the objectives of the Mother NGO Scheme and the criteria for selecting a MNGO and their method of operation. She also spoke about the role of MNGOs in the ASHA Scheme.

The next presentation was on Overview and Current Thinking on NRHM by Dr. B.C. Pathak, Additional Director, National Programme. He informed the participants about the objectives of the NRHM and the reasons for the implementation of such a programme. He also explained the various activities within the mission and its infrastructure. Data for Uttaranchal was given to the participants on infant mortality, maternal mortality, AIDS awareness, immunization and various other health related issues. He also gave some information on the Janani Suraksha Yojana, which has replaced the National Maternity Benefit Scheme.

Dr. R.C. Arya, Director General, National Programme, ended the morning session with a talk and interactive session with the journalists on the successful implementation and functioning of the NRHM in Uttaranchal and also the difficulties that were faced by the government in its implementation.

After the lunch break, the next session was on the role of the programme Kalyani in propagating NRHM by Mr. K.K. Bohra from Prasar Bharati, Jaipur. He apprised the journalists of the popularity and success of the programme. Unfortunately, he could not show the presentations as there was no Beta Player available in Dehra Dun.

The first day of the workshop was concluded by a session on The Focus Required on Current Health Issues with Regard to Journalism which was presented by Ms. Bindu Shajan of The Hindu. Her session was very interesting for the journalists as she recounted her experiences in writing about health issues - the hurdles faced by her and what, in her opinion, were the key issues to be focused upon. She interacted with the journalists in recounting their experiences in writing about health issues.

The second day of the workshop commenced with a session by Dr. Ramesh Badola on the work in NRHM and the health sector by their NGO called Bhubaneswari Mahila Ashram in Uttaranchal. He informed the participants about the main objectives of his organization, namely ensuring better health facilities for women and children, creating better network with the government health facilities to ensure decrease in child and mother mortality and increase in immunization, generating awareness in the community about adopting behavioral changes such as improved hygienic practices to achieve better standards of health etc.

He also listed out their targets to be accomplished by 2010 in the areas of ANC, malnutrition, managing diarrhea with ORT, spreading awareness of STD/RTI etc. He also gave details about their present working area. He also briefly touched upon their current activities, such as the School Health Orientation Programme, the Sanjivani Programme, TBA Orientation Program, HESA (Hygiene Environmental Sanitation Awareness), People Health Security Fund (PHSF) and organising of Health camp/Health Mela/Eye camp.

The second presentation was by Dr. Surekha Kishore who is the Head, Department of Community Medicine, of the Himalaya Institute Hospital Trust. She was assisted by Ms. Kavita Joshi. She talked on Maternal and Child Health Issues in Uttaranchal, alongwith data on the status of maternal health. She elaborated on the causes of neonatal, perinatal and infant mortality/morbidity, and the issues faced in the maternal and child health sector, at the providers level as well as the clients level. She talked about the inadequate utilization of health services, and the reasons for this. She also touched upon other issues involved, such as communication gap, lack of networking, quality of care, perception of people regarding available health services. She talked at length about RCH, essential obstetric care, causes of maternal mortality in India etc.

The two day workshop was concluded by lunch.

The workshop was very well attended on both days by journalists from Dainik Rashtriya, Dainik Jagran, E.M.S., The Himachal Times (English Edition) India Press Agency, Sahara Group, Doordarshan Kendra, Success Glory, Dainik Shikhar Sandesh, Lokmat, Punjab Kesari, Samayak Maya, Shah Times, Pradhan Times, Divya Himachal, PTI Bhasha, Maya, Uttar Ujala, Anand Awaaz, CNN Newspaper, CNN, Dainik Janlahar, Dainik Doon Darpan, Uttaranchal Weekly, Garhwal Times etc. There was an attendance of 37 journalists on Day 1 and 23 on Day 2.

Journalists Workshop on Population, Development and Gender Bhubaneswar , Orissa,
Mar 20-21, 2006 .

According to government reports, as many as 2 million foetuses are aborted each year for no reason other than that they happen to be females, a UNFPA presentation about the ‘Missing Girls' has pointed out. Although existing laws ban pre-natal sex determination tests, 60 million girls are still ‘missing'.
In India , a preference for sons is influenced by a plethora of social and economic factors that effectively relegate girls to the status of a burden; they effectively fall into a demographic black hole from which, analysts fear, there will be no return.
This information was disclosed at workshop conducted by the Press Institute of India (PII), under the Media Advocacy Programme of the UNFPA and the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, at the Development Resource and Training Centre (DRTC), Bhubaneswar .
The two-day workshop commenced on Mar 20, 2006 by a welcome address by Meena Varma of PII. She briefed the audience about the aims and the objective of the workshop. Meena Osmany of PII made the presentation on behalf of UNFPA.
Mr Raman Prasad from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare chaired the session for the day and provided some valuable inputs regarding female foeticide, and various Government policies to stop this practice.
Speaking on ‘Overview and current thinking on population issues in Orissa', Dr. P.K. Das , (Consultant Orissa State Health & Family Welfare Society) said that the population deals with five demographic processes - Fertility, Mortality, Marriage, Migration and Social mobility.
He said that according to the demographic cycle, in the first stage i.e. high birth rate and high death rate in India was stationary. In the second stage, the death rate begins to decline, but the birth rate remains unchanged. In the third stage, the death rate declines still further and the birth rate tends to fall but the birth rate in India still exceeds the death rate.
He said that we should reframe the population policy to make certain amendments like:

•  Advancing the marriageable age to 20 years.
•  Promoting the two child family norm
•  Increasing female literacy rate
•  Increasing demand for contraception
•  Promotion of adequate interval between children
•  Enhancing child survival through universal immunization and oral dehydration therapy
•  Revamping the infrastructure and improving programme management at all levels.

•  Linkage with anti-poverty schemes like Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), National Rural Employment Program (NREP), Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme etc.
•  Securing maximum involvement of non-government agencies.
•  Raising a cadre of ‘women volunteers corps' for social change, in the ratio of one for every 60 families both in rural and urban areas.

Mr. M.R. Mishra's (State Coordinator, Health and Family Welfare Department) made a presentation on ‘ Public- Private Partnership in Population Stabilization in Orissa' . He said that recognizing the important role of health in the process of economic and social development and improving the quality of life of our citizens, the government of India has resolved to launch several programmes to carry out the necessary amendments on the basic health care delivery system.
The mission adopts a synergistic approach by relating health to determinants of good health, viz. segments of nutrition, sanitation, hygiene and safe drinking water. It also aims at mainstreaming the Indian system of medicine to facilitate health care.
Further he said that almost 65 per cent of health services in Orissa are being currently provided by the private sector, and there is a need to refine the regulations. Guidelines for Public-Private partnership in the health sector should be developed and areas that are need based, thematic and geographic should be identified for partnership
Another noted speaker for the day was Dr. S.K. Rath (Consultant, Orissa State Health & Family Welfare), who talked on ‘Gender Concepts in Health and Family Welfare Programmes' . He said that the word ‘Gender' is used to describe the characteristics of men and women, which are socially and culturally determined. It is the different characteristics, roles and status accorded to men and women in society, as opposed to those that are determined by biology, which essentially distinguishes gender from sex.
He said women are capable of doing everything that men could, with the exception of biological factors, such as child bearing and breast-feeding. Talking about gender and globalization, he said that the growing integration of economies and societies around the world has enhanced employment opportunities for women, and they are now migrating from one place to another in search of employment.
Further he said that we should encourage men and women to share household and familial responsibilities equally, and we should improve women's access to information by using various methods - popular theatre, Nukkad Natak (Street plays), Melas (Exhibition) and the print and electronic media.
Dr. S. B. Agnihotri (Consultant, Orissa State Health & Family Welfare) talked on ‘Decreasing female sex ratio and its implications in Orissa' . Through his data and graphic presentation, he showed that the population density of Orissa (236) is well below the Indian average (325), and far below that of Kerala and West Bengal. The percentage of children (0-6) in the population has reduced from 17% in 1991 to 14.6% in 2001, and is below the national average (16%). He said that the developed regions have higher density in comparison to the undeveloped regions of Orissa.
Lastly he said that though the women in Orissa have displayed responsible reproductive behaviour, they have not got adequate maternal facilities:

- Better antenatal care
- Safer deliveries
- Better literacy and education
- Better nutritional levels.
The first day ended with his urging media persons to write stories focusing more on child and women health care systems in Orissa.

The second day started off with Mr. Prafulla Das (Bureau Chief, The Hindu) talking on the ‘Role of Media in Highlighting Core Issues' . He said that there are lots of core issues in the health and education sectors, which a responsible media person should be motivated to write about. He said that media persons should organize a grassroots advocacy campaign so as to mobilize communities around the issues of child labor by raising a demand for universal primary education and basic health facilities in the tribal areas of Orissa.
Lastly he said that the Government should make their work policies more transparent so that the media can portray an accurate picture of the public facilities that are available for the local people, and how it can be beneficial to them. He urged journalists to write stories about the current trends and the actual condition of the villagers at the grassroots level.
Another noted speaker, Ms. Bisakha Bhanja, National Alliance of Women (NAWO) spoke on ‘Violence from a gender perspective'. She said that violence is always relational - it may be physical or it may be mental and there are different ways to control it.
Speaking on gender-based violence, she said that violence is a form of discrimination that seriously inhibits women's ability to enjoy rights and freedom on an equal basis with men. It also promotes differential treatment in terms of nutrition, health care, education, mobility and other life opportunities, which expose girls and women to a high risk of violations of all kinds.
She said that it starts at the very prenatal stage like female foeticide and discrimination in nutrition. During childhood, discrimination in the quality of food given, education, healthcare, child labour, child marriage and child prostitution are some of the forms of violence perpetrated against the girl child in our society.
Concluding her presentation, she asked the media to sensitize its readers/viewers to the issue of gender discrimination, and to portray women's success/ plight without sensationalism.
Dr. Niranjan Kar from the United Nation Child Education Fund, Bhubaneswar, gave his presentation on ‘Community Medicine: Infant and Maternal Mortality' . Through his presentation, he talked about millennium development goals:

•  Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
•  Achieve universal primary education
•  Promote child mortality
•  Improve maternal health
•  Combat HIV/ AIDS, malaria and other diseases
•  Ensure environmental sustainability
•  Develop a global partnership to realize the above.

He said that infant mortality reduction (IMR) is a key development indicator reflecting the combined effects of economic development, health interventions, technological change and the socio-cultural environment.
Talking about malaria and infant mortality, he said pregnant women are more susceptible to malaria than others. Malaria in pregnancy can cause abortions, pre-term delivery, stillbirths and low birth-weight babies. It can also cause death of the mother. Pre-term and low birth weight babies are more prone to death.
Malaria in pregnancy leads to maternal anemia, with its subsequent complications of increased bleeding during childbirth and maternal death. Malaria in infants can cause malnutrition and death. Therefore, in a state like Orissa, where malaria is endemic in many districts, strategies for malaria control, prevention of malaria in pregnancy, and prompt and adequate treatment of malaria are crucial for protecting infants and reducing the IMR.
Lastly, he elaborated on strategies for reducing IMR:

•  Proper antenatal care services
•  Delivery and newborn care services
•  Care of the healthy child
•  Care of the sick child.

The above points should be emphasised to reduce infant mortality rate in India.
During the discussions that followed, it was pointed out that infant mortality rate was a better indicator of human development than life expectancy.

The movie ‘Matrabhumi' directed by Subhash Kumar Jha was screened for the audience. It depicted the consequences of female foeticide and related issues. The two-day workshop concluded with the distribution of certificates to the participants.


Journalists Seminar: Workshop on Population, Development and Gender, at Lucknow ,
March 1-2, 2006

The two-day workshop for journalists on “ Population Development and Gender” was held at Lucknow from March 1-2, 2006 at Gemini Continental Hotel. This workshop was conducted under the UNFPA'S Media Advocacy Programme in association with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The workshop opened with the welcoming address by Mr. Arun Chacko, director, Press Institute of India (PII), briefing the audience about the role of PII and objective of this workshop. He said there is need to improve on the maternal health care in U.P especially in the rural sector. Though the programme has been intensified, however, it still has a number of challenges ahead. Reproductive health has a considerable impact on a number of crosscutting issues essential to poverty reduction such as HIV/ Aids, gender equality and equity. He said presently, to many in U.P villages cannot afford to use even basic health care services, especially in rural areas. Surveys have showed that the women residing in villages fell that the medical facilities are a barrier to their use and distances to medical centres are as an obstacle. This shows that the Ministry of Health still has many issues to handle as regards to improving health care services to the women services.
A presentation by UNFPA about the Missing Girl was presented by Meena Osmany which depicted the condition of various states of India were due to female foeticide the sex ratio of girl child is declining at an alarming rate.
After the tea break Mr. Rajdev Chaturvedi from Grameen Nirman Sanstha, Azamghar gave his presentation on “ The role of media in qualitative reproduction of health services” . Through his presentation he gave the facts and figures of various health services camps and about the maternal health status of women in the rural district of Uttar Pradesh. He further talked about various sterilization camps in rural areas of U.P where the medical amenities were not present in the camps for pre and post sterilization operation. Proper basic care of the women were not taken at all in these camps. He said that to provide the qualitative services to women in rural areas one should do research that what are the essential things which a residing rural women needs and to also make them aware of their health consequences. Lastly he talked about the role of media and urged the journalist to cover the stories related to health services at grassroot levels and to work independently without any pressure so that the people can become much aware about the facilities provided in their area.
Post lunch began with Mr. Abhijit Das (head Sahayog) presentation, on “ Population facts and myths” . He talked about the increasing population in the district of Uttar Pradesh and the consequences related to population explosion.
Giving the example of China he said that the shortage of female birth is at its most extreme in China . China operates the world's largest and most coercive population programme- the famous one-child per couple policy. This has led to a resurgence of the traditional Chinese practise of female infanticide, as son preference is very strong in Chines culture. He said that if we are also not going to stop the practise of female foeticide here in India , we could also land up in the same problem like the China , which is going to face in the coming years. Lastly he said that the main problems are not technical but operational, choosing the right strategies for programmes to go to scale with and overcome the constraints that hamper the development of effective health systems.
Shakuntala Joshi form Sahayog gave her presentation on “ Access to maternal health services in U.P” . Speaking on this issue she said that the maternal health services is very poor in U.P. Very few labour room with phone and vehicle services is available. Medical officers are not available at every centre nor are the emergency obstetric drug available. She said the reason for exclusion from access to care is multiple. Services may simply be unavailable, or women may find it difficult to access them because of their gender or because of barriers generated by poverty, race, language & culture, uncertainty about what care will cost them or the awareness that it will be too expensive, deters many from accessing care that may prove vital. Even for people who do manage to use services, what is offered can be untimely, ineffective, unresponsive or discriminatory and is often catastrophically expensive.
After the tea break Naveen Joshi , Senior editor, Hindustan Times delivered his talk on “ Highlighting and sensitizing readers/ viewers to core issues” . He asked the journalist to visit actual field site and to put up the stories related to the health problems and about various schemes run by the government from the very grassroot level, so that the rural people can be benefited by those schemes, which are run by the government for them. He also urged the reporters not to sensitise the news by attractive captions but actually should do some study or field visit to write a good story for different papers.
“ Violence against women and challenges for survival of their lives” by Madhavi Kukreja , Vanangana, from Chattisghar with the help of her co-workers presented a short play which depicted the tragedies of the women which she faces right from the birth till her tragic death. She said that there are varieties of strategies and approaches that have shown positive results in improving the access to women, especially poor women that need basic maternal health services such as:
•  Strengthening outreach services and community based approaches: Sensitize communities on safe motherhood and develop alternative outreach strategies that take the mother child health (MCH) services to the poor women in their homes through community based skilled attendants, maternity waiting homes and rural midwifery programmes.

•  By providing knowledge and education about maternal health to women and their families to promote better health seeking behaviours. Improve access to education for girls of poor families in order to delay early child bearing and improve women's empowerment.

•  Sensitise Communities and private sector on their role. Improve communication in rural poor areas. Strengthen partnerships between traditional birth attendants and skilled formal providers; build linkages with other reproductive health, nutrition, and gender and adolescent health interventions.

After the tea break Prof Jannavi Tandon from department of Preventive & Social Medicine, BHU, presented her lecture on “ The Missing Girls! The Indian scene”. Through her presentation she raised some soul searching queries such as: a) Is female feticide a method of balancing family thus controlling population. b) Is it not better to die in the womb rather than to be ill-treated later. c) will declining sex ratio & scarcity of women improve their status in the society
She further said that if data are correctly reported and in the absence of sex- selective mortality and migration, a gender balance is expected in any population, however, in reality we don't expect a sex ratio of unity in any population. In most of the developed countries females outnumber males. That is a sex ratio of more than 1000 females per 1000 males. This is so because longevity is higher for females than males and on an average woman in developed countries live about 6 years longer than men.
Highlighting some of the important reasons for low sex ratio in India she said that neglection of female children results in higher mortality at younger age, higher maternal mortality, sex selective female abortions, female infanticide, change in sex ratio at birth, and larger undercount of female than males in census.
After the post lunch session Dr. P.L Trakroo , former Head- Communication, National Institute of Health & Family Welfare, conducted a Media Lab for all the participants. The participants were grouped in four categories and were assigned different topic related to health issue in Uttar Pradesh. The participants took keen interest and participated in this media lab.
The two-day workshop ended with the distribution of gifts and certificates to the participants.

BRIEF REPORT ON WORKSHOP FOR JOURNALISTS ON ‘POPULATION, DEVELOPMENT AND GENDER’ AT BARIPADA, ORISSA, FROM DECEMBER 7–8, 2005.

The workshop began with Ms. Meena Varma of Press Institute of India (PII) welcoming the participants and a brief introduction of PII and its current activities. She then introduced Mr. V.K. Pandyan, I.A.S., who is the District Collector at Baripada. Mr. Pandyan briefed the participants on the various schemes started by the Government in Orissa, which encouraged women to empower themselves through economic independence. He also said that they were trying to improve the level of literacy amongst the female population, which is the key to their development and would solve a lot of the gender issues. He was happy that a workshop was being conducted to make journalists aware of the situation in Orissa.

After the tea break, Mr. Prafulla Das, of the Hindu, Bhubaneswar Bureau, spoke about the futility of the Government’s efforts to stabilize the population, a problem which was of prime importance in our country. He also said that the government should look into reasons for the declining female ratio in the country and should make people aware of the repercussions of neglecting the girl child and sex selective foeticide. He blamed the government for not paying due to attention to the problem and also the media for neglecting to highlight the issue.

After Mr. Das’s session, Dr. Biswajit Das from the Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, spoke about the misconceptions of the media on HIV and AIDS. He stated that less than 10% of the articles on HIV/AIDS find their way to the front page of the newspaper, and even then, there was a paucity of features, columns and editorial covering other aspects of the persons affected, such as their rights, the stigma attached and the discrimination faced by them. Incorrect usage of terminology and incomplete information conveyed in the articles showed a lack of clarity amongst journalists. He was of the view that the captions used often had negative implication, such as “Fatal Disease”, “Incurable Disease”, “Ill Repute” etc., which created a sense of hopelessness and panic amongst the affected persons.

He presented figures which illustrated that girls and women were a high risk group prone to this infection, as also young people in the age group of 15-24 years, which account for half the new infections worldwide. He enlightened the journalists on the symptoms of AIDS and the methods of transmission of the virus, and also advised them on the correct usage of HIV/AIDS related terms.

Dr. Das’s presentation presentation was followed by Dr. Sashi Kanta Nayak of Lepra India. He spoke about the issues involved in Orissa regarding HIV/AIDS and the measures that are being taken and need to be taken to resolve these issues. He stressed on the importance of the media in raising awareness amongst the people about these issues. Like Dr. Biswajit Das in his earlier presentation, Dr. Nayak also clarified the differences between HIV and AIDS and the respective symptoms as also the methods of infection. He spoke about the various treatments available to affected persons and also gave a brief history of AIDS, as in when it was first detected in various parts of the globe etc. and presently, there is no country in the world where AIDS cases have not been reported. He dispelled some of the myths on HIV/AIDS such as a common belief that sex with a virgin can cure the infected person, there is a cure for AIDS, it only occurs among homosexuals or young people, the virus can pass through condoms etc.

He also presented some global figures on the number of persons living with AIDS/HIV presently and also projected figures for the end of 2004. Similar figures on a national level were also given. Prevalence rates state-wise as well as for Orissa were also given. He said that the major factors for spread of HIV/AIDS in Orissa was mainly migration of labour, poverty, low level of education, drug users, unsafe sex practices and ignorance about methods of transmission of HIV/AIDS.

The post lunch session was an Overview and Current Thinking on Population Issues in Orissa, presented by Dr. P.K. Das, who is the consultant to the Ministry of Health, Bhubaneswar. Dr Das presented data on population figures in Orissa, on the whole as well as district wise. He elaborated on the various populations pertaining to Orissa mainly in relation to the girl child and sex selection issues.

This session was followed by Dr. Madan Mohan Pradhan’s presentation on Gender Concept in Health and Family Welfare Programmes. He started by defining the difference between sex and gender. He said that gender identity is inculcated from childhood and is developed as one grows. There are socio-cultural differences prevalent in our society such as discrimination against the female at the workplace, women are not free to go to all the places that men can go to, women are not allowed to move about at all hours as men do, expression of sexuality is different for men and women, access to resources and benefits differ and decisions for justice taken for both sexes, in the present society, differs. Largely, in most families, if it’s a matter of choice, the boy is given preference over the girl for education. The popular thinking is that vocational training is enough for the girl.

In the area of health, family, as well as society, respond differently to the sick male and female. Health facilities provided also benefit the male more than the female. He said that the girl child was given less nutritional food than the boy. The female had little or no access to contraception and had no say in the matter of pregnancy or MTP. She was also subject to sexual abuse, violence, rape etc. To correct the situation, women should be given equal rights in all social and cultural spheres and given equal opportunities to realize their full potential and development. He suggested some remedial measures suggested in the Recommendations of the Consultation on Gender and Health, jointly published by the National Commission for Women and the Ministry of Health.

The next session on Community Medicine: Infant & Maternal Mortality by Dr. Niranjan Kar, of UNICEF, Bhubaneswar, was on the same lines as his earlier presentation at Rayagada. He gave facts and figures on infant and maternal mortality in the country and Orissa. He elaborated on the various schemes put in place by the Government to check the mortality rates and what needs to be done further.

The next presentation was by Ms. Sashi Bindhani of SODA on Violence and Gender. She started with the definition of violence, which is a form of discrimination that inhibits the woman’s ability to enjoy rights and freedom on an equal basis with men. Gender differential treatment in nutrition, healthcare, education, mobility and other opportunities, place women at risk for violence of all kinds. Violence is rooted in unequal power relations between the two sexes in society. She said women faced violence in one form or another from the time she was in the womb till the day she dies. For example, she cited cases of foeticide, female infanticide, child marriage, child prostitution, eve teasing, rape, trafficking, incest, dowry, domestic violence etc.

She stressed on the role the media had to play in sensitizing the readers to the issue of gender discrimination and its responsibility in portraying women’s issues without sensationalism.

The next presentation on Reproductive Child Health by Mr. Basudev Panda, Executive Director, OVHA, was also on the same lines as his presentation given at the Rayagada workshop.

After the tea break, the movie “Hari Bhari” by Shyam Benegal was screened, which was greatly appreciated by the participants.

The workshop ended with the distribution of certificates to the participants.

BRIEF REPORT ON WORKSHOP FOR JOURNALISTS ON 'POPULATION, DEVELOPMENT AND GENDER' AT RAYAGADA, ORISSA, FROM OCTOBER 26-27, 2005.

The workshop for journalists on “Population, Development and Gender” was held at Rayagada, Orissa, from October 26-27, 2005, at the Hotel Sai International. This workshop was conducted under the UNFPA’s Media Advocacy Programme, in association with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.