System to check infant mortality dying a slow death
FARRUKHABAD: The World Banksupported mother and child tracking system (MCTS), which is crucial in containing infant mortality in rural areas, has completely floundered in Farrukhabad.
Apart from the scourge of profit-hungry private hospitals, the problem stems from the malfunctioning of the network of Asha, Anganwadi and auxiliary nurse midwife (known as triple A) in the region.
Health department officials who bear the onus of this programme have failed in its monitoring and implementation.
On May 13, 2017, the then district magistrate of Farrukhabad Ravindra Kumar had written to the then chief medical officer (CMO) informing him about the dismal performance of the district in the implementation of MCTS.
“A composite ranking of all 75 districts of the state, on the basis of their performance regarding MCTS, was released on April 30, 2017. After the ranking, 10 best and as many worst performing districts have been identified. Farrukhabad figures on the 70th spot which is a matter of concern,” the DM said.
He asked the CMO to review the progress of MCTS and bring about necessary improvement in its implementation. The MCTS website shows 16,947 expectant mothers were registered this year and 9,648 were put under high-risk category.
Under this, the ‘triple A’ network provides the first line of healthcare to expecting mothers. They have to monitor the women, regularly take them to the first referral unit (FRU) and then for ultrasound at the end of a trimester.
In Farrukhabad, three primary health centres in Qayamgunj, Kamalgunj and Nawabgunj have been named as FRUs.
Each FRU essentially have a paediatrician, a gynaecologist, a surgeon and an anaesthetic. These FRUs have none of these experts and are operational only on papers. “All registered women should have undergone ultrasound at the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Farrukhabad at the end of trimester but only 500 have undergone the test so far,” sources said. Lohia Hospital has two ultrasound machines and no other healthcare centre in the district has the facility.
“Private hospitals thrive on these anomalies and corrupt system. The data is used by these hospitals to trap the families of expecting mothers,” said officials in the district administration.
“They unleash touts in villages and Lohia Hospital. The ‘triple A’ network is compromised as the women are not paid properly,” they said. MCTS is a critical programme and if carried out in the right intent, it can deliver good results in checking infant mortality and health of the mothers.
Private hospitals thrive on the corrupt system. They use the data to trap the families of expecting mothers. DISTRICT ADMN OFFICIAL