For the eastern state of Bihar, in the districts of Madhubani, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Saran and Gaya, 2020 presented an opportunity to use technology to interact with potential and existing family planning clients, and share critical COVID-19 information. With India having gone under lockdown, thousands of migrant laborers returned to their villages from cities where they
India’s decision 30 years ago to incentivize women to give birth at a health facility helped drive a dramatic decrease in the country’s maternal mortality rate—a 77 percent decline from 1990 to 2015. The initiative, known as Janani Suraksha Yojana, brought millions of women to health care institutions to deliver safely with skilled health care providers. But over time, the influx of so many mothers at facilities stressed the health system. The quality
A massive, second surge of the COVID-19 pandemic pounds India daily, endangering lives and straining an already overburdened health system. The country is consistently adding well over 300,000 cases each day, accounting for almost half of the total daily infections across the world. Critical shortages in health workers, personal protective equipment and essential oxygen mount
