States told to adopt measures to check C-section surgeries

NEW DELHI: Alarmed over a huge rise in caesarean section surgeries in private hospitals, the Union Health Ministry has asked states as well as all other stakeholders to take “essential” measures to curb C-section surgeries and develop a mechanism to put a check on exorbitant charges for the institutional deliveries in the country.

According to latest data, the C-sections surgeries in private hospital have increased to 40 per cent, while such deliveries in public healthcare centres are 15 per cent. The Health Ministry has swung into action after Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi raised concerns over the issue and wrote to Health Minister JP Nadda to make it mandatory for hospitals to publicly display the number of C-section surgeries and normal deliveries carried out.

“We have written to all states to implement the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act and sought the help of Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) to sensitise the issue among doctors,” Health Secretary CK Mishra said, adding that states have also been suggested to look into the exorbitant procedural charges of C-section deliveries.

“The rise in C-section surgeries is a wrong trend and unethical too. In case of other procedures, patients don’t have any option, but in institutional deliveries the patients have the choice and that cannot be denied,” the Health Secretary said while unveiling the findings of National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4).

Commenting on the NFHS-4 survey report, Mishra said, “The findings of the survey have set a new trend of decline, which was not the case with earlier reports as every health indicator was on the rise in earlier NFHS surveys. The Infant mortality rate (IMR) has declined from 57 to 41 per 1,000 live births between NFHS-3 and NFHS4. It has declined substantially in almost all the states during the last decade.”

“Institutional births have dramatically increased by 40 percentage points from 38.7 per cent in NFHS-3 to 78.9 per cent in NFHS-4 and it has happened due to strengthening of public facilities as out of 40 per cent increase, public hospitals have registered 34.1 per cent institutional births,” the secretary said.

In a boost to Centre’s schemes to improve sex ration, citing the latest NFHS report, Mishra said, “The sex ratio has improved from 914 to 919 at the national level over the last decade. Kerala with 1,047 stands at the top followed by Meghalaya (1,009) and Chhattisgarh (977). Haryana, which is known for worst sex ratio, has registered 8 per cent increase from its existing female per 1000 males ration from 762 to 836,” the health secretary said.

Another major health indicator that has improved is total fertility rate (TFR), which has declined to 2.2 children per woman from 2.7 in NFHS-3 moving closer to replacement level of 2.1. The considerable decline in the TFR has been reported in each of the 30 states of the country.