Tamil Nadu awarded for providing timely treatment for high-risk pregnancies
The state health department has also received the first prize from the central government for effectively implementing information education and communication to prevent anaemia.
Health minister Ma Subramanian during the inauguration of the Maternal and Child Healthcare Workshop
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has been awarded for identifying and providing timely treatment to pregnant women with high-risk pregnancies by the Union government, health minister Ma Subramanian announced on Monday.
Inaugurating the Maternal and Child Healthcare Workshop "Connecting the Missing Dots" in order to reduce the maternal mortality rate on Monday, the health minister urged district health officials to work towards achieving zero maternal mortality. Virudhunagar district has already achieved zero maternal mortality and the workshop will be helpful in achieving this goal, " he added.
The state health department has also received the first prize from the central government for effectively implementing information education and communication to prevent anaemia.
Tamil Nadu has been ranked second among States with the highest number of maternity care centers and has received the second prize at the national level.
The minister said that the goal is to further reduce maternal mortality rates from the current 45.5 per 100,000 live births to zero.
During the workshop, a handbook on the analysis of maternal mortality rates over the past 10 years was released by the minister. He said that the workshop aims to connect the missing dots in reducing maternal mortality. The workshop featured various experts sharing their views on how to reduce maternal mortality.
"Tamil Nadu has achieved a significant reduction in maternal mortality rates, with a rate of 45.5 per 100,000 live births, compared to the national average of 70. The maternal mortality rate has decreased from 54 to 45.5 per 100,000 live births in just one year. However, it is still necessary to further reduce this rate, " said Ma Subramanian. He attributed this success to the efforts of the state government in improving healthcare infrastructure, upgrading medical services, and coordinating the hard work of medical professionals.
The minister also added that 99.9 percent of deliveries in Tamil Nadu take place in hospitals, which is approximately 8.70 lakh deliveries, with 59 percent of them occurring in government hospitals.
This is a significant shift from the past 20-30 years, when most deliveries occurred at home.
He emphasized that the state government's initiatives, including the establishment of Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and New born Care (CEmONC) centers, have contributed to this achievement.