Maternal Mortality rate in Punjab witnesses fall by 19 points
Chandigarh, June 15: Punjab has recorded the remarkable cutback in Mother Mortality Ratio (MMR) by 19 points from 141 per 100000 live births to 122. While the whole country’s maternal mortality has also achieved a significant decline of 22% since 2013.
Giving details, Punjab’s Health and Family Welfare Minister Brahm Mohindra said that the state has achieved another milestone by a reduction in the maternal mortality ratio from 141 to 122. Promising more decline he said, “Now we set our target to reduce it below 100 by providing adequate and timely pre and post-natal checkup and other essential services to the pregnant women and mothers of newborn children.”
Minister Brahm Mohindra said that in order to provide standardize healthcare services to the pregnant women and their newborn children in the government hospitals, the state government has strictly instructed all civil surgeons to ensure the institutional delivery of all pregnant women especially who belong to BPL families, living in rural, remote and urban areas of the state under the ‘Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram’ (JSSK).
He further stated that it has also brought to the notice of state authorities that some government hospitals have deliberately forwarded the delivery cases to the district civil hospitals and to other hospitals for no specific reasons.
The Minister said that no laxity would be tolerated in the case of negligence act at any level in the department. “Health Department has initiated penal action against the erring Medical Officers and other concerned staff members for non-compliance of the protocol under Mother Child Health Care regime” added the Minister.
Brahm Mohindra said that it is also pertinent to mention that because of awareness rolled out among the general public, about the 96.8 percent deliveries were performed at the hospitals in the state which were known as Institutional Deliveries, out of which 51.7 percent took place at Government Institutions under JSSK while 45 percent in private hospitals. He said that instructions had also been issued to concerned authorities for early registration and proper follow up of high-risk pregnancies.
Giving more detail about the JSSK, he said that then Congress Government of India had launched this flagship programme ‘Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram’ (JSSK) on 1st June, 2011 to ensure the paramount facilities to pregnant women and mothers at the government hospitals and it is completely free and cashless services to pregnant women including normal deliveries and caesarean operations and sick newborn (up to 40 days after birth) in Government health institutions in both rural & urban areas. “This programme also galvanizes the people who still choose to woman delivery at their homes to opt for institutional deliveries”, Minister Mohindra added.
He said that health department is also being provided the free treatment of all ailments to girl child up to 5 years and similarly to boy child up to 1 year in all government hospitals.