Institutional deliveries in public facilities have increased from 18 to 52 pc: Patel

New Delhi: Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel Thursday said institutional deliveries in public facilities have increased from 18 to 52 per cent under the National Health Mission. She added that the out of pocket expenditure for childbirth in public health facilities has decreased in rural areas.

Patel was speaking after inaugurating a seminar on 'Women's Health Challenges, Access and Prevention' organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The minister said India has made a considerable progress in the area of women's health. "Maternal mortality Ratio (MMR) is one such indicator which reflects this progress," she said.

"India's MMR in the last few years has declined at an accelerated pace to reach 130 per one lakh live births in 2014-16. This means we save more than 30 mothers every day," she said.

Patel said under the National Health Mission a "continuum of care" approach is employed to ensure the best possible health outcomes for women throughout their reproductive life-cycle.

"As a result of these interventions, institutional deliveries have risen to 78.9 per cent and more importantly, institutional births in public facilities have increased from 18 to 52 per cent under the NHM. In rural areas, the out of pocket expenditure for childbirth in public health facilities has decreased," she said.

Patel said the quality of care was an area that requires greater attention.

Recognising this the Ministry of Health had launched 'LaQshya' -- Labour room Quality improvement Initiative -- in 2017, she said.

LaQshya is a focused and targeted approach to strengthen key processes related to the labour rooms and maternity operation theatres which aims at improving quality of care around birth and ensuring respectful maternity care, Patel added.

The minister further said with the launch of Ayushman Bharat, interventions to address issues of women's health will be further strengthened and made women-centric.

Health secretary, Preeti Sudan said empowerment of women and their health are very closely related and the rise in institutional deliveries through the Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK) and the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) are providing healthcare services to encourage this.