CARE India with its UP Office has initiated demand generation and acceptability of services for reproductive health and birth spacing services at community level in two districts in the state of Uttar Pradesh. A total of 3,49,000 women of reproductive age will benefit from participation in program activities over the next five years. Out of total surveyed population of 3662, 798 women of reproductive age group were identified of whom 272 were found to be symptomatically positive in relation of STDs/RTIs giving the overall prevalence rate of 34%. Clinical as well as the microbiological examination was carried out on 193 of these 272 women in field conditions. Those found clinically and/or microbiologically positive were provided treatment and preventive advice. Total of 150 (77.7%) women were diagnosed on the basis of symptoms (syndromic approach) and 151 (78.2%) were diagnosed on the basis of clinical examinations. However, 137 (70.9%) were confirmed microbiologically positive. A large extent was found in the age group of 15 to 24 years. Confirmed cases were comparatively less among nulliparous women (63.6%) than multipara (73.2%) cases. 64.1% women were having watery discharge while 29.1% were having complaint of curd discharge. The discharge was offensive in only 1.9% cases while 4.9% reported mixed discharge. 54.4% women complaining of vaginal discharge were suffering from PID. The discharge were either bacterial alone (26.1%) or bacterial mixed with candidiasis (16.5%) or trichomoniasis (8.7%). Compared to syndromic approach, an improvement in the sensitivity (81.8%) and predictive accuracy (74.1%) was noted when cases were detected with the help of clinical examination.

Timely and accurate information on disease load is essential for planning health programs. Unfortunately, complexity, cost and need of skilled personnel limit the use of screening tools of high validity in developing countries. The disease load estimated with tools of low validity differs considerably from true disease load, particularly for diseases of extreme levels of prevalence/incidence. A tool of 70% sensitivity and specificity may yield a prevalence/incidence rate of 34% (CI: 32.23-35.67%) for a disease whose true rate is only 10.0% (CI: 8.94-11.06%). We proposed a procedure to derive the true estimate in such cases, based on the concepts of sensitivity and specificity of a diagnostic/screening test. It is applied on two sets of real data--one pertaining to incidence rate of low birth weight (LBW) and the other to prevalence rate of obesity--where multiple screening tests of varying validity were used to estimate the magnitude. Different screening tests yielded widely varying incidence/prevalence rates of LBW/obesity. The prevalence/incidence rates derived by using the proposed estimation procedure are similar and close to the true estimate obtained by screening tests considered as gold standard. Further, sample size determined on the basis of the results of a tool of low validity may be either larger or smaller than the required sample size. Estimation of true disease load enables determination of correct sample size, thus improving the precision of the estimate and, in some instances, reducing the cost of investigation.

Routine UIP coverage status in the state of West Bengal and three selected Municipal Corporation areas (Calcutta, Howrah and Siliguri) were studied during 1997-98 and 1998-99. Also, UIP coverage status in the 'high risk' areas of the State (areas which reported Polio cases during 1998) was studied during 1998-99. UIP coverage in the state of West Bengal was only 54.3% in 1997-98, which further declined to 48.1% in 1998-99. In the three urban areas, UIP coverage ranged between 57.3%-70.9% in 1997-98, which further declined to 29.6%-47.1% in 1998-99. Antigenwise coverage revealed very poor performance with DPT3, OPV3, and Measles in 1997-98 and further decline in 1998-99. Dropout rate was also very high. In 1998-99 drop-out rate ranged between 30.1% to 54.2% in different studied areas. Some other studies suggested that PPI activities, which are very visible and targetted programme, may adversely affect routine UIP services. There is urgent need for further probing to identify the reasons for such poor state of affairs, keeping PPI angle in mind and to initiate remedial measure urgently.

The prevalence of anaemia in 504 adolescent girls (10-18 yrs) representing 24 subcentre villages of Daurala block of Meerut was 34.5%. The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe anaemia among adolescent girls was 19.0%, 14.0% and 1.4% respectively. Majority (55.2%) were having mild anaemia and only 4.0% had severe anaemia. Anaemia was found to be significantly associated with educational status (P < 0.05), birth order (P < 0.05), awareness regarding anaemia (P < 0.05) and marital & obstetric status (P < 0.05) with no association with age, anthropometry and menarcheal age (P > 0.05).

Higher Secondary School students and their teachers were studied to assess the knowledge about AIDS and attitude towards AIDS patients. Only 13.5% senior school students and 16.2% teachers had clear knowledge regarding AIDS--its general aspects, transmission and prevention. Girls had higher and clear knowledge than boys. 45.8% of girls, 38.8% of boys students and 20.3% of teachers had positive attitudes towards nursing an AIDS case. It is suggested that schools have to device ways to open up more effective communication with students in relation to education on sex and AIDS. Training on AIDS should be emphasized on school teachers who on their turn can teach the students in a correct way about AIDS.