Thaindian News

Kumarghat (Tripura), Sep 13 (IANS) Expectant and new mothers in Tripura will now receive reminders on their mobile phones for regular checkups, thanks to a new programme launched Tuesday by the state government.

The Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS) was formally launched at Kumarghat block, 150 km north of Tripura capital Agartala, by the state Health Minister Tapan Chakraborty.

“Under this computerized programme, every new mother will receive cell phone messages with regard to her and her new born babies’ next immunization and checkup dates,” Chief Medical Officer of north Tripura district Dilip Kumar Das told reporters.

Similarly, pregnant women will receive alerts on the various health measures they need to take.

“Aiming to reduce maternal and infant mortality rate, all our efforts would be taken to track every pregnant woman to ensure delivery of ante-natal and post-natal care and trace every newborn for complete immunization coverage,” Das said.

If the concerned women do not have a mobile phone, an SMS would be sent to their family members or to the officials of the nearest health centre.

The SMS would be sent in the local language and in English, 15 and seven days before the stipulated dates of the immunizations and checkups.

Data about expectant women and new mothers would be collected in advance and would be stored in the records of the concerned health centres.

Tripura is the first state in India’s east and northeast where the MCTS has been initiated under the National Rural Health Mission programme of the union health ministry.

A similar programme, named “e-mamta”, was launched in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan three years ago, Das said.