SAFE PREGNANCY FACILITIES VITAL
FOR MATERNAL HEALTH CARE - SMT. SWARAJ
SMT.
SWARAJ INAUGURATES FIRST TRAINING PROGRAMME IN LIFE SAVING ANESTHETIC
SKILLS FOR EMERGENCY OBSTETRIC CARE
Minister for Health
and Family Welfare & Parliamentary Affairs, Smt. Sushma Swaraj
has said that corrective measures need to be taken to bring down
maternal mortality rate significantly and improve maternal health
in general. One of the key strategies that needs to be pursued
is the provision of timely and adequate emergency obstetric care.
By ensuring such facilities one would not only improve the out
reach of the RCH programme, it would facilitate the improvement
of obstetric care services at first referral units also. It is
a challenge for us today to provide efficient delivery systems
to pregnant mothers so that they come to the referral units in
different parts of the country. Smt. Swaraj stated this while
delivering her address at the first training programme in life
saving anesthetic skills for emergency obstetric care, which she
inaugurated here today.
Speaking on the occasion,
Smt. Swaraj said it was envisaged to operationalise first referral
units at the sub district/CHC level with the objective of providing
emergency obstetric care to pregnant women. However, on a number
of occasions this could not be operationalised due to the lack
of specialist manpower, namely, gynecologists and Anesthetics.
This training programme was being initiated to address the shortfall
in the availability of anesthetics at the first referral units.
To start with, the Minister said the programme was being launched
for doctors from Chhatisgarh. Under the programme, training would
be conducted for 18 weeks. Out of this duration, the last 4 weeks
would be at State Medical College. The size of the trainees would
be between 8 to 10 MBBS doctors. The selected participants should
have put in at least 5 years’ service. The selection of participants
should follow the selection of FRUs where they will be posted
after the training is completed.
A scheme for
hiring of anaesthetists at FRU/CHC level at a payment of Rs. 1000/-
per emergency operation has been in operation for the last 4 years.
However, due to acute lack of anaesthetists particularly in sub-district
areas, it has not been possible to get their services. The Tenth
Plan Working Group on Health of Women and Children has observed
that Shortage of anaesthetists is perhaps the single most important
cause of inadequacy of emergency Obstetric Care in Government
Hospitals particularly in rural areas.
The training
programme is being implemented in the backdrop of the increasing
number of maternal deaths due to pregnancy and child birth. It
has been found that most of the maternal deaths in India have
been due to haemorrhage, unsafe abortions, eclempsia, sepsis and
obstructed labour. It is expected that this training programme
would provide good quality ante-natal care, post natal care, safe
institutional delivery services and timely referral and emergency
obstetric care. Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for
Health and Family Welfare, Shri Raja said that this training programme
would go a long way in filling the critical gap of the absence
of specialists in dealing with emergency services at referral
services. Shri Ramesh Bias, Minister of State for Mines said that
it was a challenge for the medical fraternity of Chhattisgarh
to succeed so that this model could be replicated in other parts
of the country. Shri J.V. Prasada Rao, Secretary, Family Welfare
said that this training programme was a step towards decentralising
infrastructural support systems in medical delivery systems. By
initiating such an innovative programme adequate human resources
would be generated.
Earlier the Minister
inaugurated Surekha vishram Sadan at the All India Institute premises.
The complex is expected to provide in house boarding and lodging
facilities to care givers of patients admitted at the institute.
It is understood that this initiative will help the medical institute
to look after the needs and requirements of care givers more effectively.
