*Ministry of Health and Family Welfare* *12-January, 2012*
The Union Minster of Health and Family Welfare, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, today released reports of 5th Common Review Mission (CRM) and 8th Joint Review Mission (JRM) of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) at the National Dissemination workshop held in New Delhi. Health Secretaries and Mission Directors NRHM of 20 States participated in the workshop. Shri S. Gandhiselvan, Minister of State, Health & Family Welfare, Secretary Health and Secretary AYUSH also graced the occasion. In his address, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad congratulated the NRHM team of Centre and the States for the hard work that has led to notable improvement in the health indicators of the country. He said that the achievements of NRHM have been endorsed by independent surveys. As per the latest SRS, country’s IMR has reduced to 47 (SRS 2010) from 58 in 2005 and MMR declined from 254 during 2004-06 to 212 in 2007-09. Noteworthy achievements have been recorded in the High Focus States like Orissa, Rajasthan and Bihar where the IMR has dropped by 13 or more points since 2005. Fall in rural IMR has been consistently more than urban IMR for last three years. Assam Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan have recorded the largest fall in Maternal Mortality Ratio of 90, 81, 81 and 70 points respectively. Further, TFR has reduced to 2.6 in 2009 from 2.9 in 2005. Shri Azad noted that assured referral transport including emergency medical transport services, development in infrastructure and augmentation of Human Resources are other major areas in which significant achievements have been recorded. He asserted that Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram which was launched on 1st June 2011 to provide free services to pregnant mothers and children will further reduce out of pocket expenditure and improve institutional delivery. He mentioned that development of a comprehensive facility development plan for each district was essential to ensure that essential infrastructure is established in the 12th Plan period. He stated that provision of essential drugs free of cost, standard treatment guidelines and basic minimum set of diagnostics at all the facilities is being planned in the 12th Plan to reduce financial stress on the poor patients. Sh Azad stressed on the importance of continuous monitoring and evaluation to continue the positive trends. He reiterated the commitment of Government of India to provide accessible, affordable and quality health services to all the people of India. Minister of State for Health Shri S. Gandhiselvan too expressed happiness over substantial increase in health human resources, improved fund utilization and improve and programme management capabilities. He also appreciated the improved community ownership of the program through Rogi Kalyan Samities, Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committees and ASHAs. Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Shri P. K. Pradhan highlighted that the “High Focus District” approach, wherein the Ministry has identified 264 backward districts of the country having adverse health indicators and paid greater attention to them, has paid dividends. The Ministry has also started Annual Health Survey in nine High Focus States to continuously monitor progress. Shri Pradhan stressed on need for closer monitoring of health of high risk mothers and low birth babies. Facility based care for this vulnerable group has increased but there is need to monitor their health post discharge from the health facilities, he added. He also stressed on need to make Maternal Death Review more comprehensive. He asked the States to fill up vacant post and ensure rational deployment of manpower. The new schemes for promoting menstrual hygiene in adolescent girls and delivery of contraceptives at doorsteps through ASHAs have been implemented, he said. Secretary AYUSH in his address emphasized on greater need for integration of AYUSH services. The key findings of CRM include state reports of steady increase in caseload, range and quality of services offered by the public health facilities and an increase in availability of sick newborn care units and newborn care corners. The teams have noted that Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS) and Health Management Information System (HMIS) have been established in all the States and districts. E-transfer of funds and capacity building have also yielded positive results. The need to increase technical and managerial resources in high focus States, strengthening of training institutions, provision of incentives to encourage skilled service providers to work in difficult areas and high focus districts, strengthening of laboratory services and district hospitals, partnership with not for profit sector institutions for service provision in high focus districts and strengthening of horizontally integrated planning at district level are other recommendations of the report. Sustained efforts in the past seven years since NRHM has been launched, have led to development of that critical mass and momentum required to achieve the goals and targets and the next phase of the Mission is set to capitalize on the momentum and accelerate our journey towards our National Health Goals. The CRM and the JRM (with particular focus on RCH programmes) are annual exercises to critically review the functioning of NRHM vis-à-vis its goals and objectives and assess the healthcare delivery system in the States to explore the main reasons for successes and shortcomings. The mission teams comprise of members from civil society, public health experts, representative of international development partners and senior officers of various ministries. The 5th CRM was held during 8th -15th November, 2011 and the teams went to 15 States including 10 High Focus States. The 8th JRM teams visited 5 States from 12th to 16th November, 2011. *SBS* *(Release ID :79539)* http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=79539 --------------------------------------- *VAISHNAVI JAYAKUMAR* http://about.me/vjayakumar -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Mental Health Advocacy (News 'N Views) India" group. 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