Our Correspondent
Kohima | March 8
Dr Khelito Zhimomi, Nodal Officer, Reproductive Child Health (RCH) today stressed the need to improve maternal health in Nagaland. “Our department cannot do alone for improving the maternal health,” she said adding that Government of India (GoI) want to see the improvement of maternal and child health status in the state.
Speaking at the seminar on ‘Women's role in COVID-19 vaccination and Maternal Health’ as part of International Women’s Day here at Hotel Vivor, organized by Momentum Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity in collaboration with Department of Health & Family Welfare, Nagaland, she said “We need to do a lot of works in maternal health section.”
GoI has given us targets and we have to achieve those target. We think we are doing a lot but we are not doing enough, Dr Zhimomi said.
Especially for maternal health, the GoI wants 100% or atleast 95% institutional deliveries for the pregnant women but the state of Nagaland is achieving not even 50%, she lamented.
Touching on the medical set up within the department of health & family welfare, she said the state has 12 district hospitals, 21 Community Health Centre, 127 Primary Health Centre in urban area, 7 Urban Health Centre, around 202 Health & Wellness Centre including 242 Sub Centre.
GoI wants that all the deliveries should happen in the institutions “Because we want to save lives,” she said.
She regretted that institutional delivery is low in Nagaland. For the financial year of April to January 2022, the state has recorded around 12,000 deliveries that included 10, 819 institutional deliveries and 1720 home deliveries.
As per the target given by GoI for the state of Nagaland according to the population, the estimated deliveries is supposed to be 24,000.
Till January 2022, 13 maternal death were reported in Nagaland, she said.
Dr Zhimomi informed that GoI has been extending several schemes for the benefit of the pregnant mothers and asked the concerned to avail the same.
“GoI is sending us fund and we have enough fund but we are not getting beneficiaries,” she said.
Women play major role in COVID-19 vaccination
Dr Zhimomi said that women are playing a major role in Covid 19 vaccination in the state
During the pandemic, it has been the women force who has been working tirelessly from lady doctor to NGOs representatives, from nurses to Anganwadi workers, ASHAs, church leaders, programme managers, she said.
They have been fighting this pandemic on war footing, she said and congratulated five state women achievers (Lotha Eloe Hoho, Vechulou Kanuo, Sethonu Sachu, Dr Orentsani Kikon and Neivete-ü Sono) for getting recognition as “Women COVID-19 vaccination champion” for their remarkable contribution in COVID-19 vaccination drive. The recognition has been accorded to them today during the seminar.
“We still need your participation. We want all the women organizations, starting from Naga Mothers’ Association at the state level and all the tribal women organizations at the district level to participate in the COVID 19 vaccination,” she said.
We need NGOs, especially women organizations to convince our people and to make everyone safe,” she said.
Also requesting women to play a major role in Covid 19 vaccination, Martha Dukru, State Coordinator, Indian Social Responsibility Network (ISRN) urged upon them to continue to advocate for vaccination and encourage the people to come for vaccine “because vaccine is the only solution to Covid 19.”
It is time for stakeholders, faith based organizations, women organizations to advocate the importance of vaccine to the community, she added.
Egumsing Nsarangbe, State Programme Manager, John Snow India (JSI) also said that Nagaland still stands lowest in the country when it come to COVID 19 vaccination status.
Meanwhile, he said that JSI is presently operating in three districts of Nagaland (Phek, Kiphire and Wokha) since October 2021.
JSI has already covered around 10,000 beneficiaries pertaining to Covid vaccination in those three districts.
“We are expanding to another three districts (Peren, Tuensang and Zunheboto,” he said.
Earlier, the programme was led by Rose, Communication Officer, JSI while vote of thanks was proposed by Kawang Lowang, M&E Officer, JSI.
