The Public Health department of Maharashtra has started a welcoming initiative of conducting regular health checkups of newly married couples.
India has to stay one step ahead to solve the plethora of health problems in the country. Maharashtra has made a move in that direction.
The primary aim of this initiative is to reduce the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR).
As per Government of India norms, every pregnant woman must make at least four antenatal care (ANC) visits at a clinic before the delivery.
However, many pregnant women miss these essential follow-ups due to migration among newly married couples. Therefore, the basic idea is to reach out to these couples and have data on their health checkups before migration.
The following tests would be included:
Body Mass Index (BMI)
Haemoglobin Test
HIV
Hypertension
Severe Anaemia
Sickle cell Anaemia
Chronic conditions like - Tuberculosis, Reproductive tract infections, cardiovascular diseases, etc.
If the BMI of a female is below 18.5 (underweight) or above 25 (obese), then she will be referred to a higher hospital for further management.
The program was first launched as a pilot project in Nashik. It has now been extended to various districts namely - Pune, Thane, Raigad, Aurangabad, Solapur, Satara, Sangli, Ahmednagar, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri, Nagpur, Sindhudurg, Dhule, Wardha, Jalgaon, Latur, Bhandara, Buldhana, Akola, Nanded, Jalna, Hingoli, and Parbhani.
The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) refers to the number of infant deaths for every 1000 live births.
The Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) is the number of maternal deaths per 1 lakh live births. Maharashtra received the second spot in preventing Maternal Mortality rates from 38 to 33 per 1 lakh live births. The first position was bagged by Kerala with the lowest MMR of 30.
According to National Family Health Survey (NFHS) -5, only 58.1% of women in India get all four ANC visits.
(Input from various media sources)