Sanitation most Relevant for India's Health Parameters: Bill Gates

New Delhi, Jan 22 (IANS) Sanitation is the most relevant aspect of improving India's reproductive, maternal and newborn health, according to philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates.

In their annual letter about the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the couple said the lives of people in poor countries will improve faster in the next 15 years than at any other time in history.

In the letter, Bill and Melinda share their thoughts about the progress towards the foundation's goals and the challenges that remain, a release said here Thursday.

This year the co-chairs' of the foundation bet on maternal and child health and sanitation as most relevant with respect to India's goal of improving reproductive, maternal, newborn child and adolescent health under the goals of the National Rural Health Mission.

They are aligned on the fact that technological innovations are necessary to overcome the problems that India faces today, whether it is sanitation or financial services for the poor.

They expressed happiness over the fact that new vaccine introduction is becoming a reality in the country with the expected introduction of Rotavac at the end of January.