12 JUly 2010
Pune, India
Birth of as many as 1,600 female foetuses are selectively aborted after pre–natal sex determination every day in the country, said Anuja Gulati, project co–ordinator of United Nations Population Fund Agency (UNFPA).
“Selective abortions of female foetuses and atrocities against women are the two things that need to be addressed urgently,” Gulati said.
She was speaking at a programme organised jointly by public health department and the UNFPA to observe World Population Day at Alpabachat Bhavan here on Sunday.
“Female foeticide is an extreme manifestation of violence against women... In some parts of Maharashtra, the sex ratio of girls to boys has dropped to less than 800:1,000. In Panhala, the ratio is 798:1,000 The United Nations has expressed serious concern about the situation,” added Gulati.
Prenatal sex determination with the intention of preventing female births must be viewed as a manifestation of violence against women, and a violation of their human rights, Gulati said.‘Be counted,’ is the theme of this year’s World Population Day.“The theme asserts the right of everyone to be counted, especially women, girls, the poor and the marginalised,” said Prakash Doke, executive director of the State Health Resource Centre. Reliable information is essential for governments to formulate policies that would meet people’s needs and improve their lives, he added.
Paediatrician Pramod Joag spoke about various dietary measures that can be maintained while upbringing the child. Gynaecologist Arvind Sangamnerkar spoke about how the basic human rights of women are being trampled every day in her own families.
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