PMNCH 2014: How can we reduce healthcare inequity in India?

'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than other animals.' Anyone who has read George Orwell's cult classic Animal Farm will be familiar with this concept and it's shocking just how unequal the access to healthcare services are in different parts of the world. And that's one of the main focuses of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Children's Health (PMNCH 2014) -- to reduce inequality.

Tuesday's session started off with a discussion on Equity: Leave no one behind which is a major part of the post-2015 agenda. The panel for the discussion had a distinct Indian flavour with CK Mishra, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare discussing the situation in India. Of course, India's healthcare scenario is beleaguered by a variety of problems due to the sheer size of the country's population combined with beliefs and customs. Mishra highlighted the steps the nation has taken to improve healthcare services to all parts of society. This included prioritising geographical regions with greater problems and providing them with solutions.

He also highlighted India's recent successes in the healthcare sector which includes eradicating polio, significantly reducing the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)and increasing the number of institutional deliveries (mothers giving birth in hospitals). He highlighted how institutional deliveries have gone up from 40% in 2005 to 85%, and to target those that give birth at home the government has employed 200,000 midwives.

The government has learned much from their past efforts and realised most importantly that the key is to include the community in whatever they do because just building facilities wasn't enough. The healthcare programme in India also focuses on adolescents since India's home to 253 million adolescents which is actually equal to the total population of Europe. That's why the focus must be on programmes that help these adolescents without alienating the community and that's something we'll have to figure out how to do, because one size won't fit all in India.

What is the PMNCH?

The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) is a partnership of 625 organisations from across seven constituencies: governments, multilateral organisations, donors and foundations, non-governmental organisations, healthcare professional associations, academic, research and training institutions, and the private sector. Hosted by the World Health Organization and launched in 2005, the vision of the Partnership is the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, with women and children enabled to realise their right to the highest attainable standard of health in the year to 2015 and beyond.

Image source: www.theunion.org

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