Reproductive Health

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), reproductive health means total wellbeing in all aspects of reproduction — its emotional, behavioural and social aspects, along with the purely physical ones. A society may be called reproductively healthy when its people have physically and functionally normal reproductive organs, along with normal emotional and behavioural interactions in all sex-related matters.

Attaining total reproductive health is one of India's important social goals, and India was among the first countries in the world to launch national-level action plans and programmes to improve reproductive health; these programmes now operate under the umbrella of the Reproductive and Child Health Care (RCH) programme.

Goals of RCH Programmes :

1. To create awareness among people about various aspects related to reproduction.
2. To provide the facilities for people to understand and build up reproductive health.
3. To provide support for building up a reproductively healthy society.
4. To bring about a change mainly in three critical health indicators, that is to reduce the total infertility rate, the infant mortality rate and the maternal mortality rate.

The goals of RCH can be achieved in the following ways:

1. By introducing sex education in schools, so that the young receive correct information, myths and misconceptions about sex-related matters are cleared, and proper information reaches them about safe and hygienic sexual practices, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs, AIDS), problems related to adolescence and the reproductive organs.
2. With the help of audio-visual and print media, government and non-government organisations should take steps to create awareness about the various aspects of reproduction.
3. By educating the younger generation about birth-control measures, pre-natal care of the pregnant woman, post-natal care of mother and child and the importance of breast feeding.
4. By developing awareness about the problems arising from uncontrolled population growth and about social evils such as sex abuse and sex-related crimes, and taking steps to prevent them.
5. By creating awareness about the statutory ban on amniocentesis for sex determination.
6. By creating awareness about child immunisation programmes.
7. By educating couples to reduce the mortality rate of newborns and the maternal mortality rate. …