War room to be set up in districts where MMR is high examined

State-level Task Force in Tamil Nadu sets up war room to reduce maternal mortality, focusing on high MMR districts.

At its first meeting, the State-level Task Force for reduction of maternal mortality in Tamil Nadu decided to set up a war room in districts where the Maternal Mortality Rate is high.

The task force headed by Health Secretary Supriya Sahu, its chairperson, held a meeting at the Secretariat on Tuesday. Critical issues and datasets were examined. It was informed that 74.25% of maternal deaths happened during the postnatal period, according to a press release. The members also reviewed the position in the districts of Thanjavur, Dindigul, Myladuthurai, Theni, Namakkal, Tiruvarur, Pudukkottai and Chengalpattu which have high MMR.

Shilpa Prabhakar Satish, Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM), Tamil Nadu, made a presentation on the status of MMR in Tamil Nadu. Data from 2014 -2024 showed that 72% of maternal deaths happened in rural areas, while the remaining 28% in urban areas. The task force examined these districts where MMR was found to be above 55 per 1,00,000 live births; TN’s MMR stands at 54 per 1,00,000 live births.

It was decided that comprehensive pre-birth planning would be taken up. Approximately nine lakh deliveries take place in the State; roughly 70,000 to 80,000 on an average every month. The three directorates — Medical Education and Research, Medical and Rural Health Services, and Public Health and Preventive Medicine — will prepare a detailed pre-birth planning mechanism for each delivery, including data from the private sector. It decided that women with specific risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, anaemia and other health issues should be scheduled for delivery only in Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care centres.

It was decided to set up a ‘War Room’ for reduction of maternal mortality at the office of NHM consisting of a team of six doctors — two each from the three directorates — and technical officers headed by an Officer on Special Duty to give round-the-clock focus on comprehensive pre-birth planning. It will monitor the birth planning through a ‘102’ call centre.

A mentorship programme for districts where MMR is above 54 would be put in place. Large scale capacity building workshops — both virtually and in-person — through LaQshya training skills labs would be conducted, the release said.

D. Karthikeyan, Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration and Water Supply department and Jayashree Muralidharan, Secretary, Social Welfare and Women Empowerment department were present.