Maternal Death Rate for Indian Women is Highest in the World
In India more women die of maternity related causes than anywhere else in the world, according to Swapna Majumdar, a correspondent for Womensenews. In light of this grim situation, health advocates are pushing for legal remedies to bring the country closer to national and U.N. targets related to maternal deaths.
Melissa Upreti, a legal adviser to the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York, says, “Laws provide a strong basis to hold the governments accountable for maternal deaths.” An example of this consists of the lawsuits filed by the Human Rights Law Network, a New Delhi group. Several public interest lawsuits were filed by this group which sought better implementation of the government’s National Rural Health Mission, a seven year initiative with the goal of reducing maternal mortality, and improve services for women by 2012.
One lawsuit in particular exposed how the state of Madhya Pradesh failed to implement policies that were supposed to improve prenatal and postnatal care. This state has the country’s third highest rate of maternal mortality. Since the suit was filed in 2008, a blood bank was set up at Bhind Hospital in the state, and this consequently fulfilled one the law’s guarantees for services.
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