Mandy Moore's India visit: Assesses services for women in UP

Lucknow: Internationally known actor-singer Mandy Moore, who is currently in India for a cause, was in this Uttar Pradesh capital on Tuesday to assess the progress of family planning products and services for women in lower socio-economic segment of society, an official said on Wednesday.

The health advocate is here as the global goodwill ambassador of NGO Population Services International (PSI).

"I'm here to meet women who lack access to quality family planning services, hear their stories and see what PSI and its partners are doing to provide them with information, counselling, and care necessary to make sound decisions that help them build the families they desire," 31-year-old Moore said in a statement.

"When women have access to comprehensive health services, preventive care, and treatment, we get stronger families, communities, countries and economies," added the actress, known for roles in movies such as "Saved", "Tangled", "A Walk to Remember" and "The Princess Dairies.

Moore joined PSI in 2008 as an ambassador for its child survival programmes. She travelled to Lucknow to support the NGO's work in providing women and couples with greater access to a range of family planning products and services, prevent maternal deaths among low-income women of reproductive age in Uttar Pradesh.

The programme reaches women and couples in Lucknow, Barabanki, Saharanpur, Bareilly, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Aligarh and Bulandshahr.

Moore will spend the week in India to better understand how PSI and its partners are working to improve the health and rights of girls and women by providing comprehensive health solutions that range from access to toilets, screening for cervical cancer, improved access to contraception, and ensuring that women and girls can live lives free from gender-based violence.

Pritpal Marjara, managing director, PSI, India, said: "For more than 25 years, PSI has worked to further the cause of women and girls in India. Our long-standing partnership with the Ministry of Health and the National Health Mission has been central to scaling up our health impact in family planning and improving access."

"We remain committed to working closely with government and other stakeholders to act as a market facilitator so that women of reproductive age in India can access high-quality family planning choices without financial hardship," he added.