The necessity of controlling the growth of population in Bangladesh was seriously recognized as early as 1965 when a large-scale national family planning program was initiated in erstwhile Pakistan A.

In 1975, amniocentesis arrived in India as a method for the detection of genetic abnormalities. Soon it came to be used more commonly for sex determination (S.D.), actually a misnomer for sex prediction leading to sex selective abortions.

There is a plethora of information on the analyses of fertility differentials by various socio-economic factors.

The term status of women is very elusive in concept and there are difficulties in defining as well as measuring it (for a detailed discussion on this subject, see Mason [1].

The effect of Sesbania sesban seed powder on genital organs and fertility of female albino rats was studied at doses of 100, 250 and 400 mg/kg/day for 30 days.

Shortcomings of contraceptives and of family planning delivery systems are major reasons for unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion in Third World countries.

Despite an early and strong commitment by the government to the family planning programme, Bangladesh has achieved modest success in increasing the level of contraceptive prevalence. For instance, the use of contraception has increased from 12.7 percent in 1979 to over 25 percent in 1985 [1].

A crucial contributing factor to the Western development of the women's movement in the west has been what has sometimes been termed as the "sexual revolution" of the post-war period, i.e. acceptance of pre-marital sex and change of sex partners as a fairly normal part of life.

Among most of Tamil Nadus rural population, especially if the villages are in remote areas, health is not very much a 'felt need'. If one discusses with poor villagers their needs and aspirations, there are many other priorities of a higher order e.g.

The title of my lectures is 'Some Reflections on Dowry', and it would be insulting the sophistication of this audience to elaborate on its importance or topicality. Dowry has become literally a burning problem, and the