‘The West Bengal government plans to set up 11 state-of-the-art mother and child hubs in various districts’, informs Chandrima Bhattacharya, Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal.
“We have taken up a project for setting up 11 mother and child hubs in various districts of the state. Soon we will be working upon it and I think they will be operational very soon,” said Bhattacharya
She also said that the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) has come down drastically in the state and efforts like this will help in bringing down further. West Bengal’s MMR for the year 2011 stood at 145 as on 2011.
The mother and child hubs are supposed to provide all the healthcare facilities right after conception to delivery of the newborn and also make provision for special treatment for the infants in case of any abnormality.
According to the minister, Rs 20 crore has been invested for the mother and child hub being set up at the Calcutta National Medical College.
For setting up these hubs, the State Government has to bear 25 per cent of the total project cost, while the remaining 75 per cent will come from the Central Government.
For better treatment of mothers and newborns, mother and child hubs have been planned at 11 Government-owned hospitals across the state, Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, Midnapore Medical College, Suri Sadar Hospital, Uluberia Hospital, Bankura Sammilani Medical College, Malda Sadar Hospital, Krishnanagar Sadar Hospital, Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, Jalpaiguri Sadar Hospital, Cooch Behar Sadar Hospital and Murshidabad Sadar Hospital.
EH News Bureau