"24/7 maternity services available at union health centres from now"

Round-the-clock maternal and neonatal health services will be available at 500 "Model Union Health and Family Welfare Centre" from now, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said today (October 18, 2022).

Necessary human resources and equipment have been ensured in at least one union health centre in each upazila for this, he said while inaugurating these centres at an event in Dhaka marking the 59th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's youngest son Sheikh Russel.

"Many newborns die during birth; while many are born with illnesses. We have been working to avoid such issues…we have to increase the number of institutional deliveries for this," said the minister.

Despite government efforts, half of the children are born at home which is risky for both the mother and child.

Zahid also spoke of the unnecessary cesarian section in the country.

"Around 60 percent of all childbirth takes place through caesarian section. But it should be less than 15 percent. We have introduced these model health centres to reduce the caesarian section," the minister also said.

As many as 12 lakh pregnant women will receive normal delivery service from these centres, he added.

Each of the 4,562 unions countrywide has a health and family welfare centre run by the Directorate General of Family Planning under the health ministry. But those cannot provide quality healthcare to the local people due to the shortage of human resources and logistics.

On July 22 this year, the DGFP instructed all upazila health and family welfare officers to upgrade one centre in each upazila to a "model health centre".