PMSMA scores big: Odisha top-5 in beneficiaries, 10th in doctors registered

Bhubaneswar: The Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) has been apparently a big hit in Odisha.

The State figured among the top-5 beneficiary states in the country; whereas it finished among the top-10 states nationally in terms of volunteers registered under the ambitious mission of PM Narendra Modi.

As per data available with the Union Health Ministry, a total of 8,538 expectant mothers in their second and third trimester have received Antenatal care under the programme in 2019 till date.

In terms of volunteers registered, Odisha figured among top - 10 states with 188 registrations. The State is ahead in number of volunteers from all neighbouring states, except Chhattisgarh where over 270 private doctors have registered as volunteers under the PMSMA.

The PMSMA was launched by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on June 9, 2016 with an aim to provide an assured, comprehensive and quality antenatal care universally to all pregnant women on the 9th of every month. The service is delivered free of cost and guarantees a minimum package of antenatal care services to women in their 2nd / 3rd trimesters of pregnancy at designated government health facilities.

However, the novelty is Obstetricians, Radiologists and Physicians from private sector can register themselves as volunteer under the campaign called PMSMA for accomplishing the goal of safe motherhood in the country. The Government has also launched a popular campaign called I Pledge For 9.

On July 31, 2016, PM Modi in his radio programme Mann Ki Baat  had appealed to the specialists/doctors working in the private sector across the states to join the mission of safe motherhood. As per the data available, a total of 5,799 private doctors have registered as volunteers till date nationally. And Odisha accounts for over 3 per cent of the total volunteers nationally.

As per reports, in Bhubaneswar, some private practitioners have joined the campaign, and as a result they conduct free antenatal checkups in their clinics  itself.

The maternal mortality ratio in  Odisha has been estimated at 180 per lakh live births in 2014-16, reveals the last Sample Registration Survey (SRS) done by Registrar General of India (RGI). The State is still among the bottom - 5 in the country in MMR.