Central scheme tracks one crore pregnant women

October 29th, 2011 - 11:03 pm ICT by IANS  

New Delhi, Oct 29 (IANS) The health ministry’s e-governance initiative of tracking pregnant women hit a record mark of one crore Saturday, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said.

Azad said that the government plans to cover all pregnant women in the country by March next year.

“By March-end next year, we will have all the data compiled,” Azad told reporters.

The Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS) is designed to collate information of all pregnant women and infants so as to ensure delivery of maternal and child health services from conception till 42 days after delivery in the case of pregnant women and up to five years of age in the case of children.

According to officials from the health ministry, the number of children registered in the system is also expected to cross 50 lakh by the end of this month.

The minister also said that for encouraging health workers, special awards will be given next year to the states.

“We had high infant mortality and maternal mortality rates, still our vaccinations rates were shown as high as 70 or 80 percent. So, we came up with this idea to track the women centrally and check if the input provided by states is correct or not,” Azad said.

The tracking is done through a centralised call centre in the health ministry. The central tracking room calls the numbers provided in the forms, and cross-checks if the women have received the vaccinations, medicines and other maternal care.

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