The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Transport scheme for pregnant women in 22 districts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 05, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Transport scheme for pregnant women in 22 districts

Staff Reporter

Scheme to be extended across State.
Efforts for emergency care at referral hospitals.
RCH-II Project cost put at Rs. 527 crores

39,000 health volunteers to be recruited

VIJAYAWADA: The Emergency Health Transportation Scheme (EHTS) to provide transport facility for pregnant women requiring emergency healthcare will be introduced in 22 districts in the State in a phased manner under the Reproductive and Child Health - II Project.

The Commissioner for Family Welfare, C.B.S.Venkataramana, told Joint Collectors and other officials from Krishna, West Godavari, Guntur, Prakasam and Khammam districts at a meeting convened here on Wednesday that ETHS was being implemented in Cuddapah, Kurnool, Mahabubnagar and Nizamabad districts from April 1.

The scheme would be introduced in another nine districts in the next couple of months and the remaining nine in April 2006.

The Family Welfare Department would tie up with NGOs to transport pregnant women who need emergency facilities to identified Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric And Neonatal Care (CEMONC) centres, the Commissioner said.

Some 108 CEMONC centres would be established in the State under the RCH-II Project to make assured emergency health services available at the referral hospitals.

The centres would be located in such a way that pregnant women requiring emergency care need not travel more than 40 to 50 km.

At least five to six centres would be required in each district, Mr Venkataramana said.

Health volunteers

The Commissioner, giving details about the RCH-II Project, said the total proposed cost was Rs 527.09 crores and the different schemes in it would be implemented over five years.

The Commissioner discussed the process for the recruitment of 39,000 women health volunteers (WHV) in the 22,000 gram panchayats in the State to act as primary health resource persons in all maternity and child health matters in the villages.

The WHVs would serve as link-persons between the community and the service providers in these villages, and improve health services utilisation by the underserved population in the villages.

The commissioner recorded the opinions of the joint collectors and officers on the way to implement EHTS and the selection of WHVs.

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