Infertility has been relatively neglected as both a health problem and a subject for social science research in South Asia, as in the developing world more generally. The general thrust of both programmes and research has been on the correlates of high fertility and its regulation rather than on

Despite its many advantages, the employment of women in economic activity in India has been associated with increased mortality for infants and young children. Simultaneously, narrower gender differentials in child mortality among employed women have been noted.

The two issues in the field of fertility that have received widest publicity in the recent times in India are the rapidly growing number of clinics that are performing amniocentesis, which is followed by female foeticide and the birth of a test-tube baby in Bombay.

In a vast, multi-ethnic, multi-religious country like India, it is to be expected that we have several world-views operating at the same time in people's search for health and healing.

There can be little doubt that the last two hundred years have seen advances in health which have seldom before been witnessed in human history.

Cancer of the cervix is the most prevalent form of cancer in developing countries, and accounts for 25 to 50 per cent of all cancers occurring in Indian women.

Squinting against the glare of the harsh fluorescent lights, a balding, middle aged man wearing a checked shirt and a worried look sat at the edge of the plastic chair in the white-tiled corridor of Bombay's Jaslok Hospital, tapping his foot on the floor with increasing nervousness.

NORPLANT, an implant which when inserted in a woman's body prevents conception for five years if it is not removed, is to be introduced into the Indian family planning programme in selected centres. This has provoked much debate and not all are happy with this decision.