State seeks to reduce maternal, infant mortality rates in 10 most backward dists

Reported by Santosh Jagdev

Bhubaneswar, Jan 15:

MEETING OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH MISSION DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE. (4)

Health secretary PK Mohapatra on Wednesday said the state government aims to bring down maternal and infant mortality rates drastically in the 10 most backward districts of the state in the next three years.

Addressing a a state level consultation programme on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent health (RMNCHA) here on Wednesday, Mohapatra said; “The recent annual health survey has recorded a rise in maternal mortality to 235 and infant mortality to 53 per 1, 000 in the 10 most backward districts of the state. The state government is aiming to reduce the maternal and infant mortality rate to 100 and 30 respectively in the next three years 2014-2017.”

These 10 districts are Malkanagiri, Koraput, Gajapati, Bolangir, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Nawarangpur, Boudh, Kalahandi & Nuapada selected, Mohapatra said.

The consultation was organised by the National Health Mission (NHM) of the State Government’s Department of Health and Family Welfare, in association with State Lead Partner DFID and representatives of development partners UNICEF,UNFPA and NIPI, as part of the efforts to solicit inputs and suggestions from various development partners on providing quality and adequate healthcare services to every mother and child in the 10 high priority districts of the state.

While admitting that it is a difficult task, the Health secretary said it is possible to win the war against the twin scourge of maternal and infant mortality with collective efforts from the district Collector, divisional revenue commissioner, doctors and clinical staff in these districts. Citing the example of complete eradication of polio in the state, he said; “There is no reason why we can’t achieve the target in maternal and infant mortality reduction just as we did in the case of polio.”

Apart from state government officials, three groups – Anganwadi workers, ASHA and Auxillary Nurse Midwive (ANMs) – have to actively work tirelessly in the remote areas of these 10 districts to achieve our target in 2014-2017 year, Mohapatra added.

Ms. Roopa Mishra, State Mission Director, NHM, said several initiatives have been launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) like the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), Janani Sisu Surakshya Karyakram, Mamata Scheme, Mo Masari for pregnant mothers and National Ambulance Services that have led to improvement of maternal and child health in the state. “But these schemes have to be properly implemented to achieve the target set by the state government for these backward districts in the next three years,” she said.

Additional Secretary in the MoHFW cum Mission Director, NHM Ms. Anuradha Gupta advised the state government to implement the scheme in the true spirit.  She assured all Central help in the andeavour.

District Collectors, CDMOs, ADMO-FW, District NHM program management units and Development partners, from the 10 hgh priority districts attended the consultation programme today and presented their views.

 

 

 

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