Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Government have set up a 13-member State Level Task Force to bring down Maternal Mortality (MMR) in the State and also District Level Task Force.
An official release here on Wednesday said the State has already achieved the Sustainable Development Goal of MMR of 70 in 2014-2015 itself.
However, it has been decided by the Government that efforts needs to be intensified for bringing down the MMR from the existing 45.5 per one lakh live birth as per Sample Registration System (SRS) data 2023-2024 to less than 10 in the State in the next two years.
The Government have constituted a State Level Task Force with Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Health and Family Welfare Department as Chairperson along with Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration and Water Supply, Secretary, Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Departments with Mission Director, National Health Mission as Member Secretary and Convener along with other members which will focus on reducing maternal deaths through a strategy of pre-birth planning, capacity building, making available essential technical and medical support etc.
Simultaneously District Level Task Force with District Collector as Chairperson along with other members will undertake comprehensive birth planning for every pregnant woman.
The task force is authorized to co-opt experts/expert institutions to facilitate in the initiative.
Health Secretary Ms Supriya Sahu, in a post on X, tagging a Government Order issued in this regard said “The task force will introduce a new and robust Pre-Birth Planning Mechanism (PBPM) to seal gaps in provision of critical care for pregnant women both in Government and private sector.”
