Cost of delivery at Govt hospitals highest in Manipur, Delhi
Source: The Sangai Express / Courtesy - TNN
Dehradun, February 14 2018:
In 2011, the Centre had started the Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK) under which a pregnant woman was entitled to free delivery at Government hosp itals across India.
But a State-wise breakup of delivery costs according to the Niti Ayog's 'Healthy States Progressive India Report' says that delivery at Government hospitals continues to cost the poor a lot of money.
Manipur tops this list, with Rs 10,076 being required to deliver a child at a Government hospital.
This is followed by Delhi, at Rs 8719.Dinesh Arora, Director (Health), Niti Aayog, said, "Our analysis of out of pocket expenditure for various States is based on the National Family Health Survey-4 data, which was released in 2015-16.The reasons for varying costs in different States are region specific and we are sure that in the last two years things have improved significantly." In West Bengal, the cost, according to the report, is Rs 7,782; Kerala Rs 6,901, and Arunachal Pradesh Rs 6,474.In contrast, in Dadra and Nagar Haveli a family had to spend just Rs 471.According to the report, it was equally expensive to deliver a baby in "health-wise better States" such as Kerala (Rs 6,901), Karnataka (Rs 3,893) and Maharashtra (Rs 3,487).In fact, the empowered action group (EAG) States like Madhya Pradesh (Rs 1,387), Jharkhand (Rs 1,476), Chhattisgarh (1,480), Haryana (Rs 1,503), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 1,956) and Bihar (Rs 1,724) fared better.
Taking note of the fact that the Centre had been spending crores on improving maternal and child care in India, authors of the report have asked the States to buck up.The report read: "Given the number of Natkmal Health Mission (NHM) interventions targeting pregnant women, such as Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK), and Referral Transport to ensure free delivery at public health facilities, the States should aim to reduce the OOP expenditure." JSSK was launched in June 2011 in view of the difficulty faced by pregnant women and parents of sick newborns.
Along with high expenditure on delivery and treatment, all these factors indirectly impact infant and maternal mortality rates of India.
Under JSSK programme, pregnant women were entitled to free and cashless delivery, free C-section, free drugs and consumables, free diagnostics, free diet during stay in the health institutions, free provision of blood, exemption from user charges, free transport from home to health institutions.
Similar facilities were applicable for sick newborns till 30 days after birth.
JSY was implemented in April 2005 by modifying the preexisting National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS) with an objective of reducing maternal and neonatal mortality by promoting institutional delivery among poor pregnant women.
The scheme gave financial assistance of Rs 500/ per birth up to two live births to women who have attained 19 years of age and belong to the BPL category.
Though the reason behind higher cost of delivery at Government facilities in the North East has largely been attributed to geographically challenging terrain and unavailability of trained staff, Delhi, Mahasthra and Karnataka's charges have left many wondering.
Sharing the reasons behind increased delivery costs in "richer" States, Uttarakhand Family and Health Welfare Society Director General Dr Archana Srivastava said, "Round-the-clock availability of drugs, diagnostics and transport facilities play a major role in determining OOP expenditure.
In good States people prefer private wards where these Government schemes are not applicable, hence contributing to hiked delivery cost.
Also, long distances in big cities increase transportation costs as most of the families don't wait for drop-back facilities and opt to hire a vehicle themselves" .
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