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The town of Balangir, in the Indian state of Orissa, saw around 1,300 women--including media and civil society representatives--call for action to improve women's health at the first Deliver Now rally and public hearing.
The hearing provided a dynamic public forum for women to question local officials about the state of maternal and child health services. Issues raised included: the lack of adequate health providers, the need for improving the quality of care, irregularities in government-issued benefits to women and their families, the prevalence of bribery and corruption in the health system and the need for improving attitudes of maternal and child health service providers...