Context
World Health Day, observed yearly on 7 April, highlights pressing global health issues and mobilises movement to enhance public health consequences.
Key Highlights
- It was founded by WHO in 1950.
- The concept for World Health Day originated from the primary World Health Assembly, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1948.
- It is aimed toward uniting governments, institutions, and groups to deal with global health priorities.
- 2025 Theme: “Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures” specializes in maternal and newborn health, urging countries to lessen preventable deaths and prioritize women’s long-term well-being.
- India’s Commitment: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, strengthens efforts for equitable, reachable, and quality healthcare.
- According to WHO, nearly 300,000 women lose their life due to pregnancy or childbirth every 12 months, at the same time as over 2 million babies die in their first month of existence and around 2 million more are stillborn.
- Based on current traits, 4 out of 5 countries are off course to satisfy targets for improving maternal survival by 2030.
India’s Maternal Mortality and Child Mortality
- MMR (Maternal Mortality Ratio) in India dropped from 130 (2014-sixteen) to 97 (2018-20) per 1,00,000 live births – a decline of 33 factors.
- Infant & Child Mortality: IMR (child Mortality Rate) dropped from 39 (2014) to 28 (2020) per 1,000 live births.
- NMR (Neonatal Mortality Rate) reduced from 26 (2014) to 20 (2020) per 1,000 live births.
Challenges in India’s Healthcare
- Limited Access to Healthcare: Rural and remote areas frequently lack enough healthcare facilities and trained specialists.
- Poor Infrastructure: Inadequate medical infrastructure, inclusive of hospitals, system, and sanitation, especially in underserved areas.
- High Disease Burden: India faces a heavy burden of infectious and non-communicable diseases, requiring various healthcare solutions.
- Financial Barriers: High out-of-pocket costs for healthcare, leading to monetary stress on low-income families.
- Inequality in Healthcare Access: Disparities in healthcare access primarily based on geography and socioeconomic status.
- Shortage of Skilled Workforce: Insufficient number of healthcare workers, which includes docs, nurses, and experts.
- Fragmented Health System: Lack of integration and coordination between public and private health sectors.
Government Initiatives
- Maternal Death Surveillance and Response (MDSR): Conducted at facility and community numbers to identify causes of maternal deaths and put in force corrective moves for enhancing obstetric care.
- Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) Portal: A name based digital platform to track pregnant women and newborns, ensuring timely antenatal, transport, and postnatal care.
- Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB): Part of POSHAN Abhiyan; specializes in checking out, treatment, and prevention of anemia in children and pregnant women.
Key interventions for maternal health
- National Health Mission (NHM): Focused on improving maternal and child health, increasing digital health access, and improving infrastructure and services.
- The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is a unified digital health ecosystem to soundly join patients, healthcare carriers, and systems through an interoperable digital infrastructure.
- Disease Elimination & Control: India’s essential strides in malaria removal, with a 69% drop in cases and 68% reduction in deaths between 2017 and 2023.
- India has eliminated Trachoma as a public health issue in 2024.
- Under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), TB occurrence fell by 17.7% between 2015 and 2023.
- India has successfully carried out Kala-azar elimination as of 2024.
Conclusion
- Maternal and new child health is essential for several motives, as it without delay affects the well-being of moms, childs, households and groups.
- Prioritizing normal health check-ups during pregnancy can help with early detection and control of potential complications.
- India’s development in public health, specifically in maternal and child care, reflect a strong commitment to equitable and inclusive healthcare.
Source: The PIB
UPSC Mains Practice Question
Q. Public health system has limitations in providing universal health coverage. Do you think that the private sector could help in bridging the gap? What other viable alternatives would you suggest? (2015)
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