75 pregnant women die every day in UP
Reported December 07, 2008
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Government may boast of providing health services to people in rural areas, but the maternal mortality rate (MMR) in the state touches 517 for every one lakh pregnant women, against 301, the MMR of India.
Everyday, 75 pregnant women die in UP. Many of them suffer from anaemia and die due to excessive bleeding during delivery. The startling figures came up in a recent sample research survey , conducted by the state office of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). For the first time, the SRS has also indicated the reasons for the high count of maternal mortality in UP.
Amita Jain, scale up manager for the Academy for Educational Development (AED) and a support provider to the NRHM in the state, said: The NRHM focuses on rural health, especially women. This data will help the programme and the support agencies to chalk out concrete plans for women.
Though the state government has launched the Janani Suraksha Yojna under the NRHM to ensure safe delivery, lack of proper medical facilities and basic amenities like surgical cotton and oxygen support at the primary health centres and the community health centres have affected the operation of the scheme.