Comments for Tribal Health Initiative http://www.tribalhealth.org Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:16:57 +0530 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 Comment on Porgai products at Bangalore exhibition by Aram http://www.tribalhealth.org/index.php/2009/10/porgai-products-at-bangalore-exhibition/comment-page-1/#comment-80 Aram Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:16:57 +0000 http://www.tribalhealth.org/?p=25#comment-80 Your support will generate employment to the adivasis and tribals. I had been to this exhibition and it was a corneal delight to say the least. Your support will generate employment to the adivasis and tribals. I had been to this exhibition and it was a corneal delight to say the least.

]]> Comment on THI Newsletter 2009 – 2010 by Aravinda http://www.tribalhealth.org/index.php/2010/04/thi-newsletter-2009-2010/comment-page-1/#comment-72 Aravinda Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:02:17 +0000 http://www.tribalhealth.org/?p=312#comment-72 Congratulations on your work. Your report is riveting. The govt program of paying women to deliver in the institution is yet another example of using the idea women's empowerment to sell something without really empowering women, and I find it difficult to give credit for good intentions. As you rightly point out: "Even more worrying is the de-skilling of all the local village birth attendants, making future generations wholly dependent on the hospitals. Traditional knowledge will be lost for ever, and hospital staff will have a monopoly." We must oppose this monopoly. A small but growing community is fighting to reconnect with midwives and traditional birth practices but this is in cities like Delhi and Mumbai, among expats and a subset of the alternative and health-conscious community. It is good for those who can afford it but all women should have access to free and informed choices in childbirth. I am inspired by countries like Phillipines and Mexico and Denmark that demonstrate that integrating traditional and modern medical practices can improve childbirth outcomes for all women, regardless of poverty level. If they can do it, we can surely do it in India. And we must. More details about these successful models are given in: _Birth Models that Work_, edited by Robbie E. Davis-Floyd, Lesley Barclay, Betty-Anne Daviss, and Jan Tritten (Berkeley: University of California Press) I would also like to commend your fair-trade initiative - 70% to the producers is exemplary! Zindabad! Aravinda Congratulations on your work. Your report is riveting.
The govt program of paying women to deliver in the institution is yet another example of using the idea women’s empowerment to sell something without really empowering women, and I find it difficult to give credit for good intentions. As you rightly point out:

“Even more worrying is the de-skilling of all the local village birth attendants, making future generations wholly dependent on the hospitals. Traditional knowledge will be lost for ever, and hospital staff will have a monopoly.”

We must oppose this monopoly. A small but growing community is fighting to reconnect with midwives and traditional birth practices but this is in cities like Delhi and Mumbai, among expats and a subset of the alternative and health-conscious community. It is good for those who can afford it but all women should have access to free and informed choices in childbirth. I am inspired by countries like Phillipines and Mexico and Denmark that demonstrate that integrating traditional and modern medical practices can improve childbirth outcomes for all women, regardless of poverty level. If they can do it, we can surely do it in India. And we must.

More details about these successful models are given in: _Birth Models that Work_, edited by Robbie E. Davis-Floyd, Lesley Barclay, Betty-Anne Daviss, and Jan Tritten (Berkeley: University of California Press)

I would also like to commend your fair-trade initiative – 70% to the producers is exemplary!

Zindabad!

Aravinda

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