Moving towards the 'Centre': Reproductive health and rights in Tanzania and Kerala, India

Priya Nanda argues that the distance of local health care providers from decision making mean that reforms fail to ensure that local care givers can be effective agents of change. Decentralization has failed to move power from the centre to community representatives, especially women, and health care workers. She argues that core health needs, particularly of women should be visualized at the centre of concentric circles of power in order for decentralization to transfer power to community health care workers. © 2005 Society for International Development.