Reproductive Health: Problems & Strategies - Practice Questions & MCQ

Introduction to Reproductive Health:

• The term ‘reproductive health’ simply refers to healthy reproductive organs with normal functions. 
• However, it has a broader perspective and includes the emotional and social aspects of reproduction also. 
• According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), reproductive health means total well-being in all aspects of reproduction, i.e., physical, emotional, behavioural and social.
• Therefore, a society with people having physically and functionally normal reproductive organs and normal emotional and behavioural interactions among them in all sex-related aspects might be called reproductively healthy. 

Problems Associated with Reproductive Health:

• Overpopulation
• Early marriage
• Maternal health
• Developmental deformities
• Sexually transmitted diseases

Strategies:

• Family Planning Programme: 
  • India was amongst the first countries in the world to initiate action plans and programmes at a national level to attain total reproductive health as a social goal.
  • These programmes called ‘family planning’ were initiated in 1951 and were periodically assessed over the past decades. 
  • Improved programmes covering wider reproduction-related areas are currently in operation under the popular name ‘Reproductive and Child Health Care (RCH) programmes’.
  • Creating awareness among people about various reproduction related aspects and providing facilities and support for building up a reproductively healthy society are the major tasks under these programmes.
• Awareness about Reproduction:
  • With the help of audio-visual and the print-media governmental and non-governmental agencies have taken various steps to create awareness among the people about reproduction-related aspects. 
  • Parents, other close relatives, teachers and friends, also have a major role in the dissemination of the above information.
• Sex Education: 
  • Introduction of sex education in schools should also be encouraged to provide the right information to the young so as to discourage children from believing in myths and having misconceptions about sex-related aspects. 
  • Proper information about reproductive organs, adolescence and related changes, safe and hygienic sexual practices, sexually transmitted diseases (STD), AIDS, etc., would help people, especially those in the adolescent age group to lead a reproductively healthy life. 

• Birth Control Devices and Care of Mother & Child: 
  • Educating people, especially fertile couples and those in marriageable age group, about available birth control options, care of pregnant mothers, post-natal care of the mother and child, importance of breastfeeding, equal opportunities for the male and the female child, etc., would address the importance of bringing up socially conscious healthy families of desired size. 
  • Better awareness about sex-related matters, increased number of medically assisted deliveries and better post-natal care leading to decreased maternal and infant mortality rates, increased number of couples with small families, better detection and cure of STDs and overall increased medical facilities for all sex-related problems, etc. all indicate improved reproductive health of the society.
• Prevention of Sex-Related Crimes:
  • Awareness of problems due to uncontrolled population growth, social evils like sex-abuse and sex-related crimes, etc., need to be created to enable people to think and take up necessary steps to prevent them and thereby build up a socially responsible and healthy society.
  • Research in Reproductive Health Area:
  • Research on various reproduction-related areas is encouraged and supported by governmental and non-governmental agencies to find out new methods and/or to improve upon the existing ones. 
  • Saheli’–an oral contraceptive for females–was developed by scientists at Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) in Lucknow, India.