This paper discusses health vulnerabilities of children in general followed by an analysis of data regarding health scenario of children below five years of age from

Every year, as millions of women marry, they dream of starting a family, of having their homes filled with tiny cries and the happy laughter of gurgling babies. In India however, pregnancy is too often followed by the question of
whether the unborn child is a girl or a boy.

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 health care scenario for women, especially apropos reproductive health, is highly exploitative, with extensive human rights violations. Women are treated as expendable entities.

There is a widespread feeling that there has been a general erosion of ethical standards even in professions, which have been considered 'noble'. This has prompted a soul-searching exercise to understand the problems involved.

How does one analytically locate the social phenomenon manifested in India during the last few years since the advent of sex-selection technology in the mid- 70s?