High maternal mortality rate a concern: Shabana Azmi
November 22nd, 2011 - 8:21 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Nov 22 (IANS) Seeking higher spending on health services, Bollywood actress and activist Shabana Azmi said here Tuesday that the high maternal and infant mortality rate was a blot on India’s image.
“The high maternal mortality rate is a matter of great shame for the country which has attained the status of global power. The number of pregnant women dying in the country is more than the total number of women’s death in Europe in a year,” Azmi said at the launch of ‘No Child Born to Die’ campaign by NGO Save the Children.
The actress expressed dismay over the lack of political will to address the issue of healthcare in the country.
“I have written a letter to the Planning Commission’s Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia stating that allocation of GDP’S 1.1 percent to healthcare be increased to 5 percent,” Azmi told newsmen.
She said that there was a dearth of 26 lakh health workers in the country and the vacancies needed to be filled up.
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- India's infant mortality worse than neighbours: Azad - Mar 20, 2012
- Sex ratio better in villages than cities, says survey - Aug 10, 2011
- Healthcare spending to go up in 12th Plan: Montek - Dec 01, 2011
- Rising life expectancy in Shanghai sets record - Feb 20, 2012
- New programme for pregnant women to be launched - May 27, 2011
- 'India fourth worst in maternal care' - May 08, 2012
- Asia's maternal mortality rate declines 52 percent: Report - Sep 15, 2010
- PM calls for increasing health spending to five percent - Mar 18, 2011
- 3 percent of GDP to be spent on health: Montek - Sep 09, 2011
- Azad asks States to set up more medical colleges - Jan 12, 2011
- Himachal Pradesh to spend more on health - Mar 21, 2012
Tags: activist, actress, dearth, deputy chairman, dismay, gdp, global power, health services, health workers, infant mortality rate, lakh, launch, maternal mortality rate, montek singh ahluwalia, New Delhi, newsmen, ngo, planning commission, pregnant women, shabana azmi