Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Oct 14: The state health and family welfare department Tuesday launched the dedicated 104 helpline to provide assistance to pregnant women in the state. The dedicated helpline will track all expecting mothers and newborn infants through its mother and child tracking system.
Health minister Atanu Sabysachi Nayak, who launched the helpline, said the government aims at receiving five lakh calls in the very first year. “Our aim is to reduce infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate in the state. We will target high-risk deliveries that need more attention through our helpline. Regular interventions and counseling can potentially help in safe and institutional delivery.”
Health secretary Arti Ahuja said the government earlier could receive health-related information only from intermediaries, but the helpline can provide health department’s monitoring officials direct, real-time information from the beneficiaries. “This will also play an instrumental role in monitoring our health schemes and other programmes,” she said.
The helpline will also evaluate the knowledge level of workers through telephonic interpersonal contact with a view to improve services rendered by the ANMs and ASHA workers on a daily basis through a number of sample calls. Other services like family planning, first aid, nutrition and hygiene are also slated to be included in the helpline soon.
Roopa Mishra, director of National Health Mission (Orissa), said, “This is a path-breaking intervention by the government. Through this facility, now the department can keep track of the overall implementation of the health schemes. It can prove vital for data validation.”
