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This book is designed to assist women in caring for their own health, and to help community health workers or others meet women's health needs. It remains highly relevant and includes valuable and vital information that will be useful for those with no formal training in health care skills and for those who do have some training. It provides comprehensive chapters on sexual and reproductive health, nutrition for women, family planning and women with disabilities.

The Countdown 2008 Report is based primarily on data drawn from national surveys and global databases. It measures coverage of basic health services proven to reduce maternal and child mortality. It also assesses the strength of health systems, the status of policies related to maternal, newborn and child health and how equitably health services are distributed. KEY MESSAGES FROM THE 2008 REPORT *Many countries have made rapid progress in preventing childhood illness, but vital clinical care for women and children lags behind. *A functioning continuum of care can ensure no one falls through the cracks. *Investment in life-saving services during the period before pregnancy and through two years of age is critical to maternal, newborn and child survival. *Governments and partners must urgently address undernutrition. *To reduce inequalities, health services must be targeted to the poorest. *Investment and political commitment translate directly into lives saved. *If maternal, newborn, and child survival is the destination, we need reliable data to guide our action.

Many health and development programs use behavior change communication (BCC) to improve people's health and wellbeing, including family planning and reproductive health, maternal and child health, and prevention of infectious diseases. BCC is a process that motivates people to adopt and sustain healthy behaviors and lifestyles. Sustaining healthy behavior usually requires a continuing investment in BCC as part of an overall health program. The tools in this issue of INFO Reports are meant to help with planning and developing a BCC component in family planning programs. Full paper in PDF format (987kb); Number of pages: 8p

The Extending Service Delivery (ESD) Project is pleased to announce the publication of a new tool to support the Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy (HTSP) for postpartum women.The manual is designed for Health trainers, nurses, Health supervisors, and community Health workers who already have basic understanding and experience with RH/FP. It provides information and guidance on how to conduct a two-day training to provide postpartum family planning counseling and services and offers the necessary technical information to strengthen Health care workers' knowledge and skills around postpartum family planning and HTSP, within the context of FP counseling and service provision.

This resource book on women's health needs and problems in Africa. Designed for use by health workers and others who provide information and counseling to women at the community level. It addresses reproduction and sexuality, pregnancy and childbirth, adolescent health, menopause, gender issues, and social and cultural determinants of women's health.

Applied research on arsenic in Bangladesh 'Arsenic contamination in groundwater is a serious public health problem in Bangladesh and currently the majority of the World's patients suffering chronic arsenic poisoning are to be found here. The World health Organization is playing its normative role to address arsenic-related health problems in Bangladesh and is providing technical assistance to the government in terms of capacity building, development of training materials, and research which has been well received and appreciated by the health sector.'

Although Jharkhand is among the less urbanized states of India, the state has been witnessing rapid growth of urban population in recent decades. As per the 2001 Census, 60 lakh persons comprising 22.25 per cent of the state's population were residing in towns and cities. It is estimated that the urban population of Jharkhand will grow rapidly to reach 93 lakh by 2026. Along with rapid urbanization, there is a rapid growth of the urban poor population in Jharkhand. As per estimates of the National Sample Survey Organization, 13.2 lakh persons comprising 20.2 per cent of the state's urban population is living below poverty line. However, estimates of the Jharkhand government put the slum population at around 40 per cent of the total urban population. The urban poor rarely benefit from the facilities in urban areas and are as deprived as those in rural areas. The health of the urban poor is considerably worse off than the non poor and is comparable to the rural figures. This wall chart presents health of the urban poor in Jharkhand compared with other population groups based on an analysis of the Third National Family health Survey conducted in 2005-06. A wealth index has been developed based on 33 assets and household characteristics. The bottom quartile in urban areas is taken as the representative of the urban poor.

The authors highlight some of the factors that constrain the effective use of research in policymaking, including the influence of powerful international actors - including major donors and multilateral organisations - on national policies, a preference for experimental research methods that assess single interventions rather than complex health systems, and conflicting attitudes within countries concerning research agendas and the capacity of local researchers. They provide a number of recommendations for action, from supporting context-specific research to promoting new research models - including a more open critique of the limitations of evidence-based research methods for investigating health systems issues such as maternal and neonatal health.

Water is a limited natural resource and fundamental for life and health. In 2000, the World health Organization estimate that of the world's 6 billion people, at least 1.1 billion lack access to safe drinking-water and 2.4 billion persons live without access to sanitation systems. An estimated 14 to 30 thousand people, mostly young and elderly, die everyday from avoidable water-related diseases (e.g. diarrhoeal diseases). The lives of these people who are among the poorest on our planet are often devastated by this deprivation, which impedes the enjoyment of health and other human rights.

The State of the World's Children 2009 examines critical issues in maternal and neonatal health. It explains why support for the rights of women and children is a prerequisite for improving maternal and newborn health, emphasizes the need to establish effective continua of care and outlines ways to strengthen health systems.

A key point in the paper is that many poor people are forced to move on a regular and chronic basis and that this movement has both negative and positive consequences for their health and nutritional status. The paper is concerned with the high levels of infant and child illness and death amongst poor urban slum communities in Rajasthan, a state with one of the highest infant mortality rates in India. The paper examines the consequences of internal migration for women's reproductive experiences and for their children's health and is based on work between 2002-2004 carried out by Unnithan-Kumar in two urban slums (basti) in Jaipur city, the capital of Rajasthan in NW India.

'This study examines the impact of small-scale old age allowance, initiated by the government of Bangladesh in 1998, on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of elderly persons. Beneficiaries have been increased from 0.5 million in 1998 to 1.6 million in 2006, and this is a cross-sectional study conducted in 10 of the 64 districts of Bangladesh. Specifically, the aim of the study is to examine the impact of old age allowance on health-related quality of life based on specific six dimensions: physical, psychological, social, spiritual, economic, environment.'

Abstract: 'Each year, more than half a million women die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, and nearly 4 million newborns die within 28 days of birth. Millions more suffer from disability, disease, infection and injury. Cost-effective solutions are available that could bring rapid improvements, but urgency and commitment are required to implement them and to meet the Millennium Development Goals related to maternal and child health. The first chapter of The State of the World's Children 2009 examines trends and levels of maternal and neonatal health in each of the major regions, using mortality ratios as benchmark indicators. It briefly explores the main proximal and underlying causes of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity, and outlines a framework for accelerating progress.'

'What are the impacts of of parental death and chronic poverty on children's education and health in Indonesia? This paper estimates the short- and long-term effects of maternal and paternal death on children's school enrolment, educational attainment and health in Indonesia, and compare it with the effect of chronic poverty. The authors also investigate whether there are any gender dimensions of the effects.'

This briefing introduces the contribution of the right to the highest attainable standard of health to reducing maternal mortality. This briefing indicates key contributions that the right to health can make in the context of policy making and through the human rights community's traditional techniques, such as letter writing campaigns, taking court cases and advocacy. It also indicates key actions that may be required by policy makers and the human rights community.

'Anemia afflicts an estimated two billion people worldwide, mostly due to iron deficiency. It primarily affects women. Yet among adolescents, prevalence rates of anemia are closer for males and females in some parts of the world. The prevalence of anemia is disproportionately high in developing countries, due to poverty, inadequate diet, certain diseases, pregnancy and lactation, and poor access to health services. Young people are particularly susceptible because of their rapid growth and associated high iron requirements. Anemia is a critical health concern because it affects growth and energy levels. In pregnancy it is associated with premature births, low birth weight, and perinatal and maternal mortality. Adolescence is an opportune time for interventions to address anemia. In addition to growth needs, girls need to improve iron status before pregnancy. And both boys and girls are more accessible to information about anemia through schools, recreational activities, and via the mass media than they will be later in their lives.'

Clean water and sanitation are not only about hygiene and disease; they're about dignity, too.… [E]veryone, and that means ALL the people in the world, has the right to a healthy life and a life with dignity. In other words: everyone has the right to sanitation.' Prince Willem Alexander of the Netherlands, Chair of the UN Secretary General Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation. 2.5 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. Tellingly, the Millennium Development Goal sanitation target, to halve by 2015 the proportion of people living without access to sanitation, remains the most off-track of all the MDG targets. The impact of a lack of sanitation on health, education and economic growth is profound. Every day, at least 5,000 children under the age of five die due to diarrhea, a disease directly related to poor sanitation. Lack of adequate sanitation in schools is a critical barrier to school attendance, particularly for girls. The resulting economic cost to individuals and to governments of ill-health and under-education is at least nine times greater than the cost of addressing this problem. Full paper in PDF format (1.53MB); Number of pages:

This guide has been produced by the World Health Organization to assist countries with limited resources in their efforts to reduce neonatal mortality and to ensure care for newborn babies with problems due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth, such as asphyxia, sepsis, and low birth weight or preterm birth. The main section of this guide is arranged by clinical signs or findings, which facilitates early identification of illness, and provides up-to-date guidelines for clinical management. Use of these guidelines is essential in promoting and assessing the quality of Health services and training providers and supporting quality services through supervision and feedback on performance.

This document celebrates success stories from countries with high maternal, newborn and child mortality, and shows specific actions taken towards achieving Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 on maternal, newborn and child health.

10 facts about women's health