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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Basic interventions that matter -CK Mishra

Basic interventions that matter -CK Mishra

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published Published on Oct 2, 2016   modified Modified on Oct 2, 2016
-The Hindu

Recent years have been a watershed in the public health programme in India. We have managed to eradicate diseases such as polio and tetanus, reduced maternal and child mortality rates significantly, halved the prevalence of tuberculosis and malaria and increased the life expectancy for both adults and children. These achievements reflect the unflinching efforts of the Indian government and all stakeholders in the past two decades to ensure health services reach those who need them the most.

As we move towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — which were adopted by United Nations member states at the Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015 — we aim to build on the eight anti-poverty targets that the world committed to achieving by 2015. To align with the new agenda of the SDGs, which puts women and children at its heart, we are moving from a disease control approach to that of strengthening integrated health systems. This will warrant the prioritisation and scaling of critical interventions that will not only be effective but also have a cross-cutting impact across goals and targets.

One such simple but powerful intervention is breastfeeding. Despite conventional wisdom about the practice and ongoing efforts to increase the number of institutional deliveries in the presence of skilled personnel, the uptake of optimal breastfeeding practices continues to be low in India, with only 44.9 per cent of newborns initiated within an hour of their birth, and only 64.5 per cent breastfed exclusively for the first six months of life. Breast milk provides vital nutrients to the infant, which is essential for its protection. Around 20 per cent newborn deaths and 13 per cent under-five deaths can be prevented by optimal breastfeeding practices.

Transformative plans

Over and above the schemes that already promote maternal and child health, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has allotted due focus and dedicated support such as the launch of the National Breastfeeding Promotion Programme — MAA (Mothers’ Absolute Affection) last month. Based on recommendations from the World Health Organization and UNICEF, this programme will lay emphasis on the early initiation of breastfeeding (in the first hour of life), exclusive breastfeeding of the infant for the first six months (without supplementation by other solids or liquids including water), followed by continued breastfeeding from 6-24 months along with complementary feeding (introducing age appropriate semi-solid foods and liquids), in urban and rural districts alike.

The MAA programme will train nurses, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) to provide relevant information and counselling support to mothers through last-mile platforms such as Village Health and Nutrition Days (VHNDs). This will ensure that adequate awareness on the benefits of breastfeeding is shared with citizens, especially mothers.

Helping mothers

Another recent potentially transformative achievement has been the Maternity Benefit Act (Amendment) Bill (2016) which was passed by the Rajya Sabha recently. The Bill aims to raise maternity leave for women from 12 to 26 weeks in all establishments, including the private sector. It also provides 12 weeks leave for commissioning and adopting mothers and makes it mandatory for establishments with 50 workers and above to provide crèche facilities.

This extends a ubiquitous coverage for all working mothers increasing the scope for child care including breastfeeding. In the long term, this one measure could lead to lakhs more babies not only surviving but also getting a healthy start to life.

Just as we were able to raise awareness about the value of vaccines, eradicate polio, and drastically reduce mortality rates across the demographic, we will need to intensively disseminate the benefits of breastfeeding through media campaigns with popular figures, using appropriate information and communication technologies tools, adopting real-time monitoring, and collaborating with all departments concerned to ensure we see the maximum impact.

Breastfeeding is a low-cost, high-impact, community-level intervention that has the potential to protect children when they are most vulnerable and further improve key public health indicators.A renewed focus on the cross-cutting intervention of breastfeeding brings us another loop closer to tightening the comprehensive approach to ensuring good health for all.

It is with this conviction that we call upon everyone working towards a healthy India to further accelerate our current momentum by promoting this simple yet effective intervention both at the level of individual and society. It is these small steps that will count towards the big wins we’re aiming for. Let us do our BASICS right — The impact will be far-reaching.

CK Mishra is currently the Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. The views and opinions expressed are personal.

The Hindu, 2 October, 2016, http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/basic-interventions-that-matter/article9174507.ece


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