Background: Skewed sex ratio is an issue of major concern and has long-term social and demographic consequences. In India, the preference for a son is very strong. The preference for a male child and discrimination against the female child are causing the rapid disappearance of female children in India. The main objective was to study the gender preference among rural married women in reproductive age group. Methods: A community based cross sectional study on 220 rural married women of age group 15 to 49 years was carried out in Vishnupuri village of Nanded district in Maharashtra state, India. Information regarding gender preference, expected number of male or female children, awareness regarding PCPNDT act etc. was asked. A predesigned semi structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: Out of 220 study subjects, majority of women i.e. 209 (95%) said that they will prefer male child as first issue. 105 (47.7%) women said that they expect children in 1male:1female proportion, followed by 2males:1female proportion by 42 (19.1%) women. 130 (59.1%) have heard about PCPNDT act and not a single women tried for sex determination during her ANC period. Conclusions: A strong preference to male child has been observed in females of reproductive age in rural area.

Background: Modern medicines are of prime importance to human being and are potentially hazardous when taken indiscriminately in the form of self medication. The main objective was to study the practice of self medication and the common ailments, drugs used, sources of information and the reasons for it.Methods: A community based cross sectional study was carried out on 300 urban adults. From the four zone of Nanded city, one zone was selected by lottery method and from that zone one pharmacy (medical) shop was selected randomly for data collection. Adult people who bought medicines from the selected shop without any prescription were interviewed for information regarding sociodemographic factors like age, sex, residence, education, occupation etc and information about over the counter drug such as which drug they purchased, what was the main symptom of their illness, reasons for not consulting doctor, sources of information about over the counter drug etc. were collected on predesigned and pretested semi structured proforma.Results: Out of 300 study subjects 78.3% were males and 21.7% were females. Maximum study subjects, 39.0% were from 30-39 years of age group and 23% study subjects were educated up to secondary school level. Most common symptom was fever (21%) followed by headache (15%). The commonest category of drug used for self medication was analgesic drugs (27%) and majority of study subjects said pharmacist was the main source of information about OTC drugs (48.7%). 45% study subject stated that reason for self medication was high consultation fees of private doctors.Conclusions: Active age group male members in the family were more involved in self medication and high consultation fees of private doctors was the main reason for not consulting the doctor and practicing self medication.

Background: As signatory to United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, India is striving hard to achieve these goals by end of 2030, especially for goal number 3 with targets related to maternal and child health. Birth-preparedness and complication-readiness (BPCR) is a tool to promote maternal and neonatal survival. This study was conducted to assess the perception and practices of recently delivered women on BPCR with its correlates. Methods: Hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Immuno-prophylaxis centre of Dr. Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College, Nanded, Maharashtra. Women attending IPC along with their baby within two to four months of delivery for immunization of their babies during the month of March 2014 constituted study subject of this study. After obtaining informed consent, data was obtained on socio-demographic characters like age, caste, religion, education, parity, ANC registration and questions regarding birth preparedness and complications readiness in their last pregnancy. Results: Total 117 women found to be eligible as study subject. Overall BPCR index of the study population was 67.28. Proportion of women who received first antenatal check-up within first trimester, four or more antenatal checkups, saved money for childbirth and had institutional delivery were 87.18%, 86.32%, 51.28% and 100% respectively. Around 23.08% women had knowledge of at least 3 key danger signs of pregnancy while only 19.65% identified blood donor. Awareness regarding danger signs of pregnancy and arrangement for blood donor was found poor in comparison to other indicators in study subject.Conclusion: There is need of increasing awareness regarding BPCR so that perception and practices in the community increased.

Background: Though the school health services cater to health needs to an extent, the children who drop out of schools lose on this count. These children never derive the attention for the reason of school dropouts nor are they covered under any major health programs pertaining to their health problems. The objective of the study were to study health profile of the school dropout children aged 7–16 years residing in the slums of municipal corporation area of Nanded city; to study socio-demographic factors of the families of these school dropout children.Methods: It was a community based cross-sectional study carried out in urban slums of Municipal Corporation of the Nanded city in Maharashtra on the children of age group 7 to 16 who dropped out from the school. Total 455 study subjects were studied by using simple random sampling method. A pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect information on socio demographic variables. Thorough clinical examination of each subject was carried out.Results: The mean age of study subjects was 14.2 (±1.9 SD) years. Out of total 455 study subjects, 264 (58%) were boys and 191 (42%) were girls. 11.20% study subjects were having skin infections, 25.71% were having dental caries, 3.29% were having ear impairment, 9.89% were having visual impairment, and 1.31% was having stammering of speech.Conclusions: Anaemia, skin infections, dental caries, visual impairment were major health problems noted in the school dropped out children. Poor socioeconomic status, religion, type of family, more number of children in the family was some sociodemographic factors responsible for school dropout.