Institutional deliveries still a far cry

Expressbuzz, Dec 24, 2009
Sanjeev Kumar Patro

BHUBANESWAR: Notwithstanding tall claims by the Government, institutional deliveries that ensure safe motherhood fare low in Orissa. Only 44 per cent of childbirths in the State are done in proper health institutions or hospitals, reveals a recently released survey conducted by International Institute of Population Science. A high of 54.6 per cent deliveries are conducted in homes with the percentage rising to over 58 in rural areas against 24.6 in urban areas. And only 12 per cent of them are conducted in the presence of skilled personnel. Thus, only 51 per cent of the total deliveries in Orissa can be called ‘safe deliveries’. The figures make schemes like Janani Surkhsya Yojana (JSY) that entails monetary support for the first two deliveries non-performers. The report reveals that financial assistance under JSY has been made available to only 32 per cent with the urban-rural ratio of 29:32. Around half of the villages in the State are yet to be covered under JSY. ASHA workers who play a major role in bringing more expectant mothers under JSY are employed in only 705 villages of a total of around 47,000 villages in the State. The report mentions a total of nine districts - Boudh, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangapur, Nuapada and Rayagada - that register a poor institutional delivery rate of below 30 per cent. Significantly, a Unicef report earlier on the same districts revealed that 67 per cent of the maternal deaths there could be prevented if timely and proper coverage of schemes were ensured. Of these nine districts, Boudh, Kandhamal and Rayagada have in fact registered a decline in the institutional deliveries in 2007-08 over 2002-04. In Boudh, the institutional deliveries came down 34 per cent to 29 per cent in 2007-08 and in Kandhamal it fell to 25.3 per cent from 32.4 per cent. Incidentally, none of the villages in these districts are covered under JSY. The report reveals that a total of another eight districts in the State have poor institutional delivery rate of 30-45 per cent. Only 3.3 per cent villages in Orissa have seen the formation of health and sanitation committees - an important stipulation under NRHM to ensure eradication of communicable diseases. None of the epidemic prone villages in the districts of Koraput, Malkangiri, Nuapada and Kandhamal have health and sanitation committees till date. It is important to mention that institutional deliveries in the empowered action group states like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have increased to 66 and 50 per cent respectively, and the Unicef report too has assigned them as better performers than Orissa.