Background: Millennium development goal 5 aimed at reduction of maternal deaths by three-quarters from 1990 to 2015: a target India commendably achieved, but this milestone remains overshadowed by inequalities in utilization of health services that are driven by determinants both at community and at individual level. Materials and Methods: We studied the utilization trends using descriptive statistics and analyzed the relative contribution of various socioeconomic predictors on the use of maternal health care services in rural India using binary logistic regression analysis on pooled data from three rounds of National Family Health Survey. Outcome variables included four or more antenatal care visits, skilled birth attendance, and postnatal care. Results: Although utilization of maternal health care services showed an upward trend from 1998-1999 to 2015-2016, factors such as illiteracy, female age ‡40 years, having five and more children, belonging to scheduled tribes, rural residence, and not possessing a health card were associated with significantly low utilization of maternal health care services. However, partner's education, good economic status, women's autonomy, and infrastructure at village level were associated with better odds of availing these services. Conclusions: The study generates evidence on the role of various socioeconomic determinants in maternal health care utilization and identifies gaps that must be strategically addressed to reach sustainable developmental goal maternal mortality target of 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. It reemphasizes the need for ensuring convergence among different stakeholders while structuring maternal health policies so that health reforms can be accomplished effectively at all levels of health care.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of Education, Employment, Economic Status and Empowerment (introduced as the 4Es) and other explanatory socio‐demographic factors on the utilization of maternal health care services in India. This study used data from the National Family Health Survey‐4 (2015–2016). Separate logistic regression models were fitted for four or more antenatal care visits, skilled birth attendance and postnatal care to understand the effects of 4Es on the utilization of maternal health care services in India. The findings indicate positive effects of education on antenatal care, skilled birth attendance and postnatal care, the effects of higher education being even stronger in case of antenatal care. Education leads to employment, economic status and empowerment which in turn are significantly associated with the use of antenatal care and skilled birth attendance. Interestingly, in case of postnatal care, while controlling for economic status and empowerment, the effects of education vanish. Overall, education, employment, greater economic status and empowerment emerged as reliable predictors of the use of all three maternal health care services. The positive association between the 4Es and maternal health care services utilization reiterates the need for rigorous monitoring and evaluation of the existing policies and programs, coupled with efforts to change societal attitudes toward females through political advocacy and commitment which is reflected in parallel investment in girl education, job creation for poverty reduction to facilitate women empowerment.

Promoting women's reproductive health and reduction in maternal and child mortality and is a ubiquitous public health issue in developing countries. Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) has plummeted by 44% globally, from 385 per lakh live births in 1990-216 per lakh live births in 2015. Although this drop in MMR looks impressive, it is not uniform with the low-and middle-income countries still accounting for a major proportion of global maternal mortality (World Health Organization, 2018). India has made substantial progress in reducing maternal mortality from 556 per lakh live births in 1990 to 113 per lakh live births in 2018 (SRS, 2020). In spite of these falls, India has missed the National Health Policy 2017 target of reducing the MMR to 100 (NHP, 2017) and the current MMR is nearly double the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals target 3.1 of reducing the MMR to 70 by 2030. There is considerable variation in MMR across the Indian states from 215 per lakh live births in Assam to 43 per lakh live births in Kerala (SRS, 2020). There exists a high MMR in Uttar Pradesh (197), Madhya Pradesh (173), Rajasthan (164), Odisha (150), Chhattisgarh (159) and Bihar (149) per 100,000 live births.

Background: Oral health is an integral part of general health and well being. It is important to know about the factors which having a bearing on oral health so that preventive measures can be taken. A research activity was planned to assess the oral health status and oral health practices of people in a rural community of Jammu region as very little is known about the knowledge and oral health practices of adults residing in this area.Methods: A cross sectional study for a period of four months was conducted in a village Tanda of R.S.Pura block of Jammu district. 324 adults above the age of 20 years (145 males and 179 females) were interviewed face to face with the help of a questionnaire consisting of questions from WHO technique of self assessment of oral health along with some more questions exploring the knowledge, attitude and local oral health practices.Results: The overall results showed adequate knowledge but poor attitude regarding oral health.   Out of 324 subjects studied, 41.7% paid dental visits on having pain in teeth, gums or mouth and only 3.0% visited dentist routinely. 85.6 % of participants reported using brush and toothpaste but only 24.0% of all respondents brushed twice a day and only 16.7% of the respondents changed their tooth brush within three months.Conclusions: Oral health awareness, by promoting community based programs should be undertaken at periodic intervals for better oral health and hygiene.

Context: “Aging India” has become a phenomenon of public health importance. Old age is beset with physical, mental, and social challenges. Among these, mental health concerns are least prioritized in most of the developing countries with depression being the most common and easy to screen. Aims: To assess the burden of geriatric depression and determine its association with sociodemographic factors such as religion, age, gender, education, marital status, and family type. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted in July-August 2018 in village Kirpind in north India. Methodology: 162 subjects aged 60 years or more, both males and females participated in the study. Depression was assessed using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale and those with a GDS score >=5 were categorized as depressed. Statistical Analysis Used: Pearson's Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used for analysis. Results: Nearly 59.3% of subjects had no depression, 33.9% were suffering from mild to moderate depression whereas 6.8% were severely depressed. The mean age of subjects was 69 (±7.4) years. Chi-square test was used to study the association of various factors with depression and only female gender showed a positive statistical association. On using binary logistic regression analysis, being female again emerged to be a significant predictor of depression while no other factor was significantly associated with the outcome. Conclusions: There is a need to sensitize primary care workers and physicians to identify and manage geriatric depression early. It also points towards the need for multicentric, longitudinal studies evaluating various aspects of geriatric depression.