DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 18: Commissioner & Secretary, department of Health & Family Welfare and Commissioner of Home, Abhijit Sinha, launched the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) and Mother’s Absolute Affection (MAA), a Mother and Child Intervention programme, at the Conference Hall of Directorate of Health & Family Welfare, Kohima on November 18, in the presence of the a team from Vitamin Angels, a developmental partner who have been providing Vitamin-A and Albendazole for children in the state, CMOs, MSs and DIOs and State UNICEF and UNDP team.
Addressing the members present, commissioner & secretary, stressed on the importance of a healthy mother which will ultimately lead to a health child. Despite the efforts made from all aspects, he said the figure of antenatal care is low in the country and added that though the figure of MMR, IMR and TFR were low in the state ‘we’ need to stay consistent in keeping up the figures and also improving it for further.Sinha called upon officials present to make efforts on combating the challenges of low institutional delivery figures in the state and to rope-in the private doctors and hospitals. He said collective efforts should be made from both the side of medical practitioners and information disseminators for successful implementation of the program and prove that Nagaland have done better than rest of the states.
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Commissioner & Secretary of Health & Welfare, Abhijit Sinha launching PMSMA & MAA.[/caption]
Delivering vote of thanks, Dr. Thanghoi Lam, state program officer, National Health Mission, pointed out that, the most crucial population in a society is mother and child. He expressed gratitude to developmental partners like Vitamin Angels, UNICEF and UNDP for their intervention in the state on the issue of mother and child health.
PMSMA is been launched in the country as a result of constant and consistent survey made and finding out that there is lack of quality Ante Natal Care (ANC) and detection of high risk pregnancies in the country. The programme was launched with the aim to provide fixed day, assured, comprehensive and quality ANC to a target group of all pregnant women in their 2nd and 3rd trimester by specialised health care personnel.
The key features of PMSMA is to focus on women who have not registered their pregnancy or drop outs, special ANC in addition to routine ANCs and ASHAs and ANMs will prepare a line list of eligible women and mobilise them. Comprehensive assured services under PMSMA were -all applicable diagnostic services including one USG, screening for the applicable clinical conditions, appropriate management of any existing clinical condition such as anaemia, pregnancy induced hypertension, gestational diabetes etc.
MAA was launched to re-emphasise on the importance of breastfeeding which followed if have been proven in prevention of 20% of newborn deaths, prevention of 13% of under-five death, 11 times lesser chance of diarrheal mortality, 15 times lesser chance of pneumonia related mortality, benefits on raising IQ, prevention of non-communicable diseases, lesser hospital stay of newborns, and maternal benefits (cancer prevention).
