Even as intense brainstorming is taking place on the achievements of Millennium Development Goals which completed the deadline in May, 2015, the spotlight has now shifted on sustaining the pace of reforms on eight quantified goals and attains a respectable position vis-à-vis three spheres — economic, social and environment. However, Jharkhand faces a stiff challenge in meeting the goals especially on cutting down mortality rates by half.
The move towards evolving a consensus on policy measures has drawn attention of rights group and academicians who have started echoing concerns regarding challenges and gaps in policies that poses a challenge to the sustainable development initiatives.
Notably, among the key mortality rates, which need to be brought down by the year 2030 through sustainable initiative includes maternal mortality rates, infant mortality rates and under-5 mortality rates. According to SDG-2030, Jharkhand needs to bring down the MMR to 70 from 219 per 100,000 live births; IMR to 12 from 37 per 1000 live births and under-5 mortality to 25 from 55 per 1000 live births.
“It’s a big challenge for the state to bring mortality rates down to the level in the prevailing circumstances where lot of people have no idea what to do in case of pregnancy. We encounter people who appear puzzled and don’t even know what medical help they need,” said Project Officer of charity association, Family Planning of India, Rahul Kumar Rajak while speaking at a conference on ‘Importance of SRHR in the 2030 Global Goals for Sustainable Development’ organised at Ranchi.
Although the State government is aiming to achieve the goals through immunization programmes like ‘Mission Indradhanush’ to protect children from five diseases that cripples the physical ability of a child and in some cases leads to mortality, it has just launched a major offensive against malnutrition to add thrust to initiatives taken to boost health of children while in mother’s womb up to 1000 days after birth. The State Nutrition Mission which would work in the direction of addressing health concerns would also ensure that programmes launched for providing nutrition to pregnant women meets its objective.
However, female health continues to be a concern as one dimension to the problem—sensitizing women about health issues – lacks the vigor that holds the solution to the three types of mortality. Women empowerment and breaking taboos around certain physiological attributes of women are also enumerated by academicians as some of the areas that lack serious initiative. Child marriage is one social practice which accentuates the problems of mother and child.
“Discussion on the SDG is relevant in the context of Jharkhand as 73.8 per cent women here are anemic and surveys highlight that Jharkhand is third in child marriage. There is need forsensitization drives and educate people about the various types of health issues,” said lecturer at Xavier Institute of Social Science, Rajshree Verma.