Chhatisgarh is among seven high focus States in the country which had been targetted by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for providing intensive and improved family planning (FP) services, officials informed.
The other States are —Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Assam that constitute 44 per cent of the country’s population, they informed.
Notably, on World Population Day this year, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda had given directions to the Ministry to develop a strategy within 3 months where vulnerable districts in the country will be targeted for intensive and improved family planning services.
In accordance with these directions, the Ministry will soon launch “Mission Parivar Vikas” in a total of 145 high focus districts in seven States having the highest total fertility rates in the country.
The main objective of ‘Mission Parivas Vikas’ will be to accelerate access to high quality family planning choices based on information, reliable services and supplies within a rights-based framework.
These 145 districts have been identified based on total fertility rate and service delivery (PPIUCD and Sterilisation performance) for immediate, special and accelerated efforts to reach the replacement level fertility goals of 2.1 by 2025.
Recent data suggests that these 145 districts have TFR of more than/equal to 3.0 (56 per cent of the 261 districts in the 7 HFS) and are home to 28 per cent of India’s population (about 33 Crores). However, only 22 per cent of India’s protected couples and 40 per cent of India’s couples with unmet need reside in the districts of the chosen States.
These districts also have a substantial impact on maternal and child health indicators as about 25-30 per cent of maternal deaths and 50 per cent of infant deaths occur in these districts Moreover, 115 of these districts (79 per cent) have high percentage of adolescent mothers.
The key strategic focus of this initiative will be on improving access to contraceptives through delivering assured services, dovetailing with new promotional schemes, ensuring commodity security, building capacity (service providers), creating an enabling environment along with close monitoring and implementation.