Abstract

Women’s health is an integral part of overall health system of any country. They are the one who takes care of the health of the whole family. Good health of the children to a greater extent depends on the good health conditions of women. They are the foundation of health system/status of family/community. ‘The woman is the pilot around which the family, the society and humanity itself revolves. It is well said that ‘the hands that rock the cradle, rule the world’. Welfare of a country directly depends upon the welfare of its women and women’s health and nutritional status is inextricably bound up with social, cultural and economic factors that influence all aspects of their lives, and it has consequences not only for the women themselves but also for the well-being of their children (particularly females), the functioning of households, and the distribution of resources (The World Bank). As Jawaharlal Nehru also aptly remarked that ‘one can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women’.Thus, women’s stable and good health is the top indicator of any country’s overall development. Therefore, there should not be any hiccups in providing at least primary health service to women. However, our country hardly gained any success in providing easy and free access of health to women. Women are discriminated against from womb to tomb. In all the fields, they enjoy only subordinate status. In this state of affairs, women’s health has hardly gained prominence. People, community society at large under estimated the importance of women’s health. It is sad to note that Indian women have high mortality rates, particularly childhood and in their reproductive years.