AP govt unveils special scheme for pregnant women: India

Hyderabad:

Andhra Pradesh government today launched a Centrally-sponsored scheme under which pregnant women giving birth at home will be entitled to get special assistance.

Launching the “Janani Sishu Suraksha Programme,” Minister for Medical, Health and Family Welfare D L Ravindra Reddy said the scheme is aimed at bringing down infant mortality rate to 30 from the present 40 per 1,000 deliveries by the end of 2012.

Under the scheme, pregnant women delivering at home will get financial assistance of Rs 500. Currently, women get a special aide of Rs 700 for giving birth at the state-run hospitals. “About 56 percent women were suffering with anemia in the State….Better care and treatment for anemia would automatically reduce mother and infant mortality rate. 104 mobile services teams will visit villages and conduct blood tests on pregnant women and diagnose them,” Reddy said. On an average 15 lakh women get pregnant every year in the state and a system has been introduced to identify and see that they would undergo neonatal tests, he said, adding nearly 2 lakh women have already been subjected to such tests.

Reddy said Rs 68 crore has already been released for the purpose of special care of the new born in all 30 nutrition rehabilitation centres across the state. The pregnant women are exempted from the user charges, are provided with free drugs and consumables, dianostics, diet during their stay in hospital, he added.

source: http://www.ibnlive.in.com / PTI / October 22nd, 2011

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *