The Hindu : National : India's maternal mortality ratio highest in South Asia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 28, 2005

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National

India's maternal mortality ratio highest in South Asia

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Maternal health is a problem of serious proportions in India, where an estimated 1,36,000 women die needlessly each year due to causes related to pregnancy, childbirth and abortion. India has an estimated maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 540 deaths per 1,00,000 live births, which means one woman dying every five minutes.

Uttar Pradesh alone accounts for close to 40,000 maternal deaths per year, followed by Orissa, Rajasthan and other States: all due to preventable causes. According to estimates, maternal morbidity is also unacceptably high: between 4 and 5 million women suffer ill health due to childbearing complications.

The Constitution guarantees the Right to Equality and the Right to Life including the Right to Health. Despite this, India has the highest MMR in South Asia. The MMR is higher in teenaged women or those above the age of 35 years. This becomes a vital factor when a significant proportion of girls between 13 and 19 years in India have already commenced childbearing.

Poor health, lack of transport, inadequate medical facilities and the indifferent attitude of medical practitioners have all contributed to India's MMR, according to Women Health Rights Advocacy Partnership (WHARP), a south Asian forum.

In a unique exercise called `Voices from the Ground', women from different parts of rural India will meet the Planning Commission, donors and the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare here on December 29 and urge the policy makers to prioritise the issue of maternal health in the policy agenda.

They include those women, who have suffered but survived problems related to maternal health.

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