Dehradun: Taking the difficulties of pregnant women in the state on top priority, the newly appointed Chief Secretary Smt . Radha Raturi reviewed the challenges and problems of pregnant women in the state in her first meeting at the Secretariat. Chief Secretary Smt . Radha Raturi has instructed all the District Magistrates to ensure strict adherence to the maternal death audit system of any death of a pregnant woman occurring during pregnancy or delivery in their districts. In this regard, Smt . Raturi has given instructions to provide the data to the health department of all the districts as soon as possible and to study each maternal death case separately . She has given instructions to strengthen the health system to ensure compulsory antenatal check-up of all pregnant women in the districts, especially in the inaccessible and remote hilly areas. In this regard, Chief Secretary Smt. Raturi has given strict instructions to keep a track record of whether all the pregnant women have been registered in each district and how many pregnant women are undergoing regular antenatal check-ups. She has also given instructions to give proper training to Anganwadi workers in this regard. The Chief Secretary has also given instructions to prepare SOP for ASHA and Anganwadi workers. The Health Department informed that at present 82 percent of women in the state are undergoing under antenatal check-ups.
Chief Secretary Smt Radha Raturi has instructed the Health Department to work seriously on the action plan to identify high-risk pregnant women and do regular follow-up of their health. At present, institutional deliveries in Uttarakhand are 91 percent, which has increased from 81 percent to 91 percent. The Chief Secretary has given instructions to work to increase institutional delivery as much as possible.
Regarding meeting the shortage of doctors and gynecologists during delivery of pregnant women in the state, Chief Secretary Smt . Radha Raturi has given instructions to provide training to more and more nursing officers in this regard. The Chief Secretary has given strict instructions to the concerned department to immediately replace the old and damaged vehicles of Health Service 108 on top priority. Along with this, She has given instructions to immediately send the demand for doli palanquin from all the districts to the health department. The Health Department is soon proposed to provide 262 doli palanquins to the districts with a budget of Rs 78.60 lakh. With the help of NGOs doing excellent work in the field of women’s health, the Chief Secretary has also given instructions to all the District Magistrates to work on an action plan to overcome the shortage of radiologists in the districts. 796 ANMs and 1376 Nursing Officers have been recruited by the Health Department. Along with this, 36 specialist doctors have been deployed on you quote we pay basis.
Chief Secretary Smt. Radha Raturi has also given instructions for random sampling of the food given to pregnant women under government schemes. She has instructed to encourage local grains in the diet of pregnant women.
Chief Secretary Smt. Radha Raturi has instructed all the District Magistrates to soon provide information about how many pregnant women in their districts are using the One Stop Center as a birth waiting home. A budget provision of Rs 76 lakh has been made for a one stop center for high risk pregnancy cases in the state.
The Chief Secretary directed to further strengthen the 104 call center system under which health-related follow-up of pregnant women is done by ANMs and to keep a track record of the health of all pregnant women through it. She has given instructions to launch a software in this regard as soon as possible and use it in all the districts. Along with this, Chief Secretary Smt. Raturi has instructed the Health Department to encourage telemedicine as much as possible in the state to help pregnant women. The Health Department is strengthening 109 delivery points for pregnant women in the state in terms of equipment and human resources.
Chief Secretary Smt. Radha Raturi has instructed all the District Magistrates to make the demand for Hemoglobin meters in their districts available to the Health Department as soon as possible. She said that work in this regard will be done with the help of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) fund. The Chief Secretary has also given instructions to ensure regular availability of Iron Folic Acid tablets to pregnant women in the state.
Regarding maternal mortality rate, in Uttarakhand’s is 103. The state government has set a target of bringing the maternal mortality rate of Uttarakhand to 70 by 2030. Currently the maternal mortality rate in India is 197.
Secretary Dr. R Rajesh Kumar, Shri HC Semwal, Additional Secretary Anand Srivastava and concerned officers including District Magistrates of all the districts were present in the meeting.
