The Gujarat government has shown to the world how to take care of the pregnant women in the rural and remote areas of the state. The programme, Chiranjeevi Yojana, for providing health care to the pregnant women has become so successful that even the World Health Organisation (WHO) has lauded the Gujarat governments for its efforts.

WHO in its recent report titled ‘Private-public partnership benefits women and newborns in India, says, “The government of the western Indian state of Gujarat, with a population of 50 million, has brought on board private hospitals and doctors to provide free obstetric care to poor women”.

Chiranjeevi Yojana is a private-public partnership programme for providing health care to the pregnant women under which the government pays for the services provided by the private practitioners. The programme was first launched in 2005 in five districts only, and now it covers all 25 districts of the state.

The programme is aimed at reducing the maternal mortality rate which is very high in India. In India, as per WHO estimates, more than 100 000 women die from pregnancy-related causes every year, more than anywhere else in the world. If the current trend persists, India will not be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 5 of reducing maternal mortality by three quarters by 2015.

Chiranjeevi Yojna was initiated as a scheme to increase institutional deliveries and to encourage private practitioner to provide maternity services in remote areas that record the highest infant mortality and maternal mortality rates in the States. Based on low institutional deliveries and low sex ratio five districts were selected for one-year pilot project. These districts were: Banaskantha, Dahod, Kutch, Panchmahal and Sabarkantha. Later, it was introduced to all the districts.

The scheme uses the help of private obstetricians in small rural towns and villages to provide skilled care at delivery and emergency obstetric care to poor women. New born babies also benefit from the care provided under the Chiranjeevi scheme. Private practitioners check the newborns in order to detect and treat as early as possible health problems, including asphyxia, low birth weight and infections. They also advise the mothers on breastfeeding, hygiene and other issues related to newborn care.

Gujarat has shown it. Now it is the turn of other states to follow suit. Do it for the sake of pregnant women in the rural and remote areas who have no wherewithal to afford the luxury of hospitals.