Legislation needed: Maternal, newborn health should be a basic right, say speakers

Say BISP Waseela-e-Sehat schemes should be improved with more focus on MNCH services.


News Desk June 06, 2014
Say BISP Waseela-e-Sehat schemes should be improved with more focus on MNCH services. PHOTO: FILE



Speakers at a conference stressed the need for protection of maternal and newborn health through legislation, declaring it a fundamental right.


The roundtable was attended by about parliamentarians from different political parties, civil society members, researchers and academia at a local hotel on Thursday, said a press release issued by the Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO), which organised the event.

The roundtable aimed at sensitising participants on the gaps and limitations of existing social safety nets for improving health in general, and mother and neonatal health (MNH) in particular, for the most marginalised women.

SPO Technical Adviser Ayaz Kiyani presented the findings. He said, conditional cash transfers would be more effective and beneficial in Pakistan, where service sectors such as health and education have much to offer and are neglected by the community due to access and affordability issues. Within the health sector, MNCH is a much-neglected area, which is perceived as low priority by men and women alike.

The meeting focused on the findings of a national level research study carried out under “We Care”, a project of SPO and RAF aimed at financial empowerment of women to enable and enhance access to maternal and newborn healthcare.

It was also recommended that BISP Waseela-e-Sehat should be further strengthened with more focus on MNCH services and linked with the public and private health sectors. Participants of the seminar commented on the research findings and hoped that these recommendations will be tabled in the National Assembly and Senate.

Earlier, SPO Chief of Programme Zafar Zeeshan shared the objectives of the consultation, saying the main objective of this research was to compare unconditional and conditional cash transfer programmes with focus on MNCH.

NCCTs with the aim to financially empower women, but in actual practice do not have the desired impact on enhancing women’s access to healthcare for a number of reasons. He added that the purpose of this discussion is to share the findings of the research. He said, Pakistan has a high maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 276 per 100,000 live births, meaning that the risk of death is one every 89 women, compared to one per 8,000 in the developed world.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6th, 2014.

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