SILCHAR March 24 - At a time when Maternal Mortality Rates and Infant Mortality rates have become a major cause of concern across the State, Cachar district has numbers that will bring relief to the people. According to Dr Ajit Bhattacharjee, the Subdivisional Medical and Health Officer, public health under the district health department, because of 75 per cent institutional deliveries taking place in the district as against 70 per cent in the State, the MMR and IMR rates have declined.
According to records, while the MMR across the State before the commencement of NRHM recorded 490 per 1 lakh pregnant women, the numbers scaled down to 301 in 2015. In a similar manner, the IMR rates declined from 66 per lakh to 56 per lakh population.
These facts were brought forth during the 2nd convention of Accredited Social health Activists (ASHA) 2017 organised by the District Health Department under the National Health Mission at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital on Thursday.
Addressing the ASHA workers PWD Minister Parimal Suklabaidya said �this is day to honour the mothers in the form of ASHA workers who render selfless service in the rural areas.� He has asked the Cachar Deputy Commissioner S Viswanathan to make arrangements to allot a room for the ASHA workers in all the hospitals and health centres in the district.
As many as 1780 ASHA workers and 160 ASHA supervisors attended the function wherein three workers from each Block Primary Health Centres were felicitated. Sonai MLA Aminul Haque Laskar announced that he would honour the best performing ASHA worker with a cash award of Rs 25000 every year. MAL of Udharbond Mihir Kanti Shome also appreciated the committed services rendered by the ASHA workers.
Cachar Deputy Commissioner S Viswanathan in his speech said that in the past 18 months since his joining almost 25 cases of MMR were registered every month which has been reduced to seven cases a month now. He credited the ASHA workers for bring the MMR rates to this level.
Dr SJ Das, Joint Director of Health Services Cachar has urged the ASHA workers to keep the momentum to bring the MMR and IMR rates to zero.
Meanwhile, noted oncologist and director of Cachar Cancer Hospital Dr R Ravi Kannan has urged the Cachar district administration to assign the ASHA workers in disseminating messages of the ill effects of cancer in the district. In his words 60 per cent cancer is caused due to consumption of tobacco which can be reduced if information regarding cancer cure is spread far and wide.
