Church leaders have welcomed a big reduction in India’s maternal mortality rate, with nearly 12,000 fewer women dying during childbirth in 2016.
They said the improvement was the result of a joint effort by government and private health workers. India’s maternal mortality rate (MMR) registered a 22% reduction in three years. The rate declined to 130 deaths per 100,000 births in 2014-16 from 167 deaths in 2011-13, according to data released by the Registrar General of India on June 6. This meant India saved the lives of nearly 12,000 pregnant women in 2016, UNICEF said in a statement analyzing the data.
“India has shown impressive progress in reducing maternal deaths, with nearly 1,000 fewer women now dying of pregnancy related complications each month in India as compared to 2013,” UNICEF’s India representative Yasmin Ali Haque said.
The result is “very encouraging for us all because the church is at the forefront of the health sector in the country,” said Father Mathew Peru-mpil, secretary of the health office of the Indian Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
He said one reason for the achievement was that people were made aware about facilities by the government and privately run health centres.
The government has introduced several schemes to provide free medicine and health checks for pregnant women in state facilities. Federal schemes are also available to ensure healthy food for pregnant women and newly born babies and their mothers. The World Health Organization (WHO) said the government’s efforts to improve access to high-quality maternal services and increased emphasis on women’s education are some of the reasons behind India’s ground-breaking progress.
