Intensive focus on HIV makes maternal healthcare suffer

[Guest guest]

Intensive focus on HIV makes maternal healthcare suffer

Savita Verma

Too much focus on HIV/ AIDS has put the issue of maternal mortality on the

backside. The result is the world, especially India, is still losing a large

number of women during child birth, according to international experts and

officials.

The government is unable to reach the millennium development goal of bringing

down the maternal mortality to less than 100 by 2015. There are plans to create

facilities for safe delivery and newborn care in 254 districts which contribute

to about 70 per cent of women dying during child birth in the country.

Currently, India loses 230 women per 100,000 live births. Some states such as

Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh are better off in the area of reducing

maternal mortality.

" A lot of money has gone into fighting HIV/ AIDS, TB and malaria. However,

health of the newborns and maternal health have been neglected, " Dr Julio Frenk

from the Harvard School of Public Health, said.

" During last four-five years, India has got around 1.8 billion dollars from the

Global Fund to fight HIV/ AIDS, malaria and TB. In comparison to these diseases,

number of women dying during childbirth and the burden of child mortality are

much more, " health secretary, Sujatha Rao, said.

" More resources are needed to fight high maternal mortality. Every country

should allocate extra money for the area. The issue of maternal health has been

singled out by the UN secretary general. In the G8 meeting, countries have

pledged 40 billion dollars for the area, " Frenk said.

Rao said that a major effort was being made to improve facilities for women in

254 districts in states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, parts of Andhra

Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.

These districts have weak health systems and have bad nutritional and

educational status for women. There is a deficit of 30,000 beds in these

districts.

Government will provide, free diet, medicines and even clothing to women in

these facilities. The focus should get a good environment in hospitals. Talks

are on with the private medical fraternity such as India Academy of Paediatrics

and the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India so that

private facilities are available for women.

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hiv-makes-maternal-healthcare-suffer.html

[Guest guest]

Dear Moderator,

/message/12240

It is the same old debate that keeps on coming in different packages.  Other

health programmes instead of learning from the success of HIV and AIDS want to

compete with HIV and AIDS money.

It would be interesting for Maternal and Child Health Activists to look inwards

and see what ails the MCH sector?

How have they involved communities and women into MCH programming?  Has it been

effective?  Have the MCH programmes been able to involve men in a responsible

way?  Or are the current MCH programmes just keep on promoting hetero normative

notions where women are seen as reproductive machines?

A bio medical approach to MCH has not worked, then why seek more money for what

has not worked?  

MCH programmes often tend to look at women and mothers as a homogeneous group

when they are not.

Needs of women in Sex Work or transactional sex are not the same as women living

in what would many calls as domestic bliss forgetting that domestic violence

impacts MCH in a major way.  But i have rarely heard MCH experts wanting to

categorise women according to needs.

Often MCH programmes are like one size fit all.

Structural barriers like domestic violence often ignored.

Current absorption rates of funds for MCH programmes are not so good.  Anecdotal

evidence suggests that In some states in India it being less than 50% of what is

allocated to them..

It is time that MCH experts look inwards and overhaul the whole MCH programme

and there is dire need to do that.  Why shy away from that?

These are some of the questions that MCH advocates need to answer.

And all in the health sector need to fight for the full cake not for the pie and

crumbs that are thrown at us in silos.

Warm Regards,

Rajiv

Rajiv Dua

E-mail: <rajivdua@...>