‘Institutional delivery vital for reducing maternal and neonatal deaths’

Health officials and development activists at a participatory meeting have observed that substantial and sustainable promotion of institutional delivery could be a crucial means of reducing maternal and neonatal deaths, reports BSS.

Utmost emphasis should be given on enriching the labour rooms of the primary level healthcare centres with essential equipment for the sake of increasing institutional delivery in the rural areas.

All the government and non-government organisations concerned should come forward and work together to this end.

They made the observations in a meeting hosted on the occasion of handing over essential equipment for labour rooms of Union Health and Family Welfare Centre (UH&FWC) and Union Sub-Centre (USC) in Bagmara upazila of Rajshahi.

DASCOH Foundation, a non-government development organisation, donated and handed over the equipment under the Public Health Improvement Initiative Rajshahi (PHIIR) project at Bagmara Upazila Health Complex on Thursday.

On the occasion, 56 items of labour room essential equipment including three refrigerators, two delivery beds, two maternal care check-up beds, two oxygen cylinders, two weight scales, six waste bins and four sets of curtains were handed over to the health officials.

Upazila health and planning officer Golam Rabbani, upazila family planning officer Masud Khan, medical officer (maternal and child health) Farah Diba, PHIIR project manager Tozammel Haque and DASCOH Foundation capacity manager Israt Jahan were present on the occasion.

The speakers unequivocally called for ensuring healthcare services particularly the maternal, neonatal and child health to the rural people for welfare of them.

Golam Rabbani mentioned that concerted efforts of government and public entities along with NGOs can greatly enhance effective maternal neonatal and child health services in grassroots.

He said the effective and excellent dynamism into the essential service delivery activities of union health and family welfare centre and union sub-centre is very important for ensuring healthcare services to marginal communities.

Protecting maternal, neonatal and child health, particularly in the rural and village level, can be the crucial means of building a healthy nation. Israt Jahan presented a concept paper giving an overview of the existing healthcare services of the upazila and union level service delivery institutions besides highlighting objectives of distribution of the essential equipment for labour rooms.

She told the meeting that DASCOH Foundation has been implementing the PHIIR project with the main focus of improving health standards at primary health care and mother, neonatal and child health centres that will supplement the government efforts of attaining the target of the seventh five-year plan and SDG.