Sex ratio is perhaps one of the most important sociodemographic indices which reflect the socio-economic and cultural ethos of a country, more so with reference to the status of its women.

The high female infant mortality rates (Miller, 1985), the practice of female infanticide (Krishnaswamy, 1988), the neglect of female children with regard to access to health services, nutrition (Sen and Sengupta 1983) and education (Mankekar, 1985), and the sexual abuse of girls (Bhalerao, 1985)

The Maharashtra government introduced a much-awaited and talked about bill in the state assembly: the Maharashtra Regulation of the Use of Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1988.

Persons testing positive for infection by HIV or showing evidence of AIDS provoke revulsion and fear in medical doctors. These reactions stem from the general knowledge that the diagnosis of AIDS is akin to a death sentence and the belief that a positive HIV test is, inevitably.

We live in an era of paradoxes and contradictions - the reality was never so multifaceted, the issues never so complex. Everything around us seems to be melting and unfortunately the new forms acquired by the congealing of the molten mass leaves us little to rejoice at.

The Times of India dated 13 January 1994 featured on its front-page news of a tragic event. ‘A sixty-year old advocate... leaped to his death from the eighth floor of the Bombay Hospital and died of multiple injuries... (This followed) the revelation that he was HIV positive ...

The focus on mother and child health as a key element in Indian health policy evolved out of what was identified as one of the strongest explanatory factors for continued high fertility, viz., the high infant mortality rates.