Delhi’s high court has ordered the capital’s government to build shelters for destitute pregnant women so they can receive care when giving birth. It is treating maternal mortality as a human rights violation.

India has many welfare schemes for underprivileged women, such as the National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS), Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and Janani Soraksha Yojana (mother’s safety programme), a scheme to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by encouraging institutional delivery for poor, pregnant women. However, India’s maternal mortality continues to be higher than neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and accounts for 25 per cent of the global maternal deaths. Ghulam Nabi Azad, the federal health minister, recently admitted that maternal mortality continues to be an area of “concern”.

Voor het hele artikel, klik hier.