Health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan tells Lok Sabha that 5799 private doctors registered to check pregnant women on the 9th of every month
Responding to prime minister Narendra Modi’s call, close to six thousand private practitioners have been conducting antenatal checks of pregnant women on the 9th of every month. These doctors work as volunteers, supplementing the efforts of the public sector in ensuring the the health of the mother and child.
Health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan gave this information in the Lok Sabha last week in reply to a question asked by BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal. Of the 5799 such doctors registered with the ministry of health under the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritwa Abhiyan, the maximum – 786 – are in Maharashtra, followed by 728 in Rajasthan and 714 in Madhya Pradesh.
While India has made considerable progress in the reduction of maternal and infant mortality, every year approximately 44000 women still die due to pregnancy-related causes and approximately 6.6 lakh infants die within the first 28 days of life
Modi had spoken about PMSMA in the 31st July 2016 episode of Mann Ki Baat. PMSMA guarantees a minimum package of antenatal care services to women in their 2nd / 3rd trimesters of pregnancy at designated government health facilities. The programme follows a systematic approach for engagement with private sector which includes motivating private practitioners to volunteer for the campaign developing strategies for generating awareness and appealing to the private sector to participate in the Abhiyan at government health facilities.
Data indicate that Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India was very high in the year 1990 with 556 women dying during child birth per hundred thousand live births as compared to the global MMR of 385/lakh live births. As per RGI- SRS (2011-13), MMR of India has now declined to 167/lakh live births against a global MMR of 216/lakh live births (2015). India has registered an overall decline in MMR of 70% between 1990 and 2015 in comparison to a global decline of 44%.
While India has made considerable progress in the reduction of maternal and infant mortality, every year approximately 44000 women still die due to pregnancy-related causes and approximately 6.6 lakh infants die within the first 28 days of life. Many of these deaths are preventable and many lives can be saved if quality care is provided to pregnant women during their antenatal period and high risk factors such as severe anemia, pregnancy-induced hypertension etc are detected on time and managed well.
Private doctors can register to volunteer for PMSMA through SMS, online, through a mobile application or by giving a missed call. On June 29, 2018, the PMSMA Achievers’ Awards Ceremony was organised in which 36 private doctors were given individual awards and two organisations Federation of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Society of India (FOGSI) and Indian Medical Association (IMA) were felicitated for their contributions.
