Sand slips

Vaccine woes continue

For long, India’s vaccination programme had six vaccines for tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, whooping cough, tetanus, polio and measles. The vaccines were cheap and protected children adequately. But in the last decade, the country has been under tremendous pressure from the pharmaceutical industry to include a variety of expensive vaccines in its immunisation programme.

Time for course correction

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee will be rewriting the budget from today. This became clear late in the afternoon yesterday when state elections results were declared and the Congress party was routed in three of the five states that went to polls.

Matter of life and death

The two story building of community health centre in Malhipur in Jamunaha block in Shravasti district in Uttar Pradesh has separate rooms for doctors of every speciality. But all are locked due to the lack of staff. The Community Health Centre is run by only two general physicians. There is no staff nurse Photo by: Ankur Paliwal Read more: Cradles of hope (Cover Story) Read more: What ails Bundi? (Reporter's Diary) Read more: Children of a lesser god (Reporter's Diary)

Matter of life and death

A five month old boy is being given fluids through drip needles to subside excessive diarrhoea inside a small two-bedded ward having tattered mattresses and dirty floor with syringes strewn all over. It is the only ward open for public now in the Malhipur Community Health Centre in Jamunaha block in Shravasti in Uttar Pradesh. The hospital has no sweeper to keep it clean Photo by: Ankur Paliwal Read more: Cradles of hope (Cover Story) Read more: What ails Bundi? (Reporter's Diary) Read more: Children of a lesser god (Reporter's Diary)

Matter of life and death

The broken building of additional Public Health Centre in the Jalalpur village in Sareela blocks in Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh. No admission and deliveries can be conducted inside the crumbling building Photo by: Ankur Paliwal Read more: Cradles of hope (Cover Story) Read more: What ails Bundi? (Reporter's Diary) Read more: Children of a lesser god (Reporter's Diary)

Matter of life and death

The warmer (corner right) lying unused in the labour room in community health centre in Sirsia block in Uttar Pradesh because there is no staff to operate it. The new born infants are kept below the 200 watt bulb (seen besides the warmer) to prevent hypothermia Photo by: Ankur Paliwal Read more: Cradles of hope (Cover Story) Read more: What ails Bundi? (Reporter's Diary) Read more: Children of a lesser god (Reporter's Diary)

Matter of life and death

Ramesh Srivastava is the driver of this ambulance. Mitanins requring the ambulance service can directly call him on his cell number – 09329561492 in Chhattisgarh. The 24/7 ambulance started functioning in the state a couple of months back. At present, the ambulance is being used for bringing women to the hospital for delivery but it is expensive. The state is trying to strengthen the regular ambulance service to tackle the bulk of delivery cases Photo by: Vibha Varshney Read more: Cradles of hope (Cover Story) Read more: What ails Bundi? (Reporter's Diary) Read more: Children of a lesser god (Reporter's Diary)

Matter of life and death

Sarita Devi feeds her one-and-a-half month old daughter, whom she delivered in a private vehicle on the way to the hospital, as her four-year-old son, Aditya, plays in the sun. She could deliver safely in the jeep as her Usada village’s midwife in Uttarakhand was with her in the vehicle Photo by: Sayantoni Palchoudhuri Read more: Cradles of hope (Cover Story) Read more: What ails Bundi? (Reporter's Diary) Read more: Children of a lesser god (Reporter's Diary)

Matter of life and death

Sunita Devi, pregnant with her first child at the age of 25, now cares for her step-children. She holds the youngest of her three step-daughters at her village Bhatwadi in Ukhimat block in Uttarakhand. The children lost their mother, who was anaemic, a month after her third delivery Photo by: Sayantoni Palchoudhuri Read more: Cradles of hope (Cover Story) Read more: What ails Bundi? (Reporter's Diary) Read more: Children of a lesser god (Reporter's Diary)