ATLANTA (March 26, 2001) -- CARE is rallying support for safe motherhood in India by marching to the Taj Mahal in Agra on World Health Day, April 7. The march is being sponsored by the White Ribbon Alliance, which seeks to raise public awareness about maternal health. The alliance was formed in 1999 and comprises more than 40 organizations, including CARE, who are dedicated to improving women's health.

Approximately 5,000 thousand people are expected to participate in the march, which will culminate inside the Taj Mahal grounds. People will lay commemorative wreaths and observe a moment of silence. An information mela (fair) on women's health will be held the same day.

The Taj Mahal is inextricably linked to women's health. The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj to honor his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth in the 15th century. Centuries later, the Alliance reports that a woman in India dies every five minutes from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. India's maternal death rate (570 per 100,000 live births) is among the highest in the world. These deaths are due to a lack of access to high quality care in pregnancy and childbirth, life-saving drugs and safe surgical procedures and access to information about family planning.

"Every pregnancy has the potential to become an emergency," says Dr. Y.P. Gupta, CARE's director for reproductive health projects in India. "That's why it's so important that women receive good prenatal care and reproductive health care."

CARE is a leader in family planning and reproductive health programming, serving 8 million men and women through more than 70 projects in over 30 countries. The organization recently launched a program in Agra aimed at improving women's reproductive health. The program will reach approximately 15,000 women of reproductive age, including several hundred commercial sex workers, in 20 slums over a period of three years. Its goals are to promote safe reproductive health practices and reduce reproductive tract infections and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. CARE also seeks to increase the number of women who use local health care services. The organization also will work with these local health care providers to improve their abilities to provide medical services.

ABOUT CARE: CARE is one of the world's largest international relief and development organizations. CARE began working in India in 1950, and is active in nine states: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The organization also carries out development programs in food, agriculture, primary health care, education, urban development and micro-enterprise.

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