Medical professionals should ensure no woman dies during pregnancy: Harsh Vardhan

Making a continuous effort to reduce the maternal mortality in India, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday said that medical professionals have to ensure that not a single woman in the country dies during pregnancy.

Addressing the Golden Jubilee Celebration of ICMR's - National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health (NIRRH) held in Mumbai, Harsh Vardhan said, "We medical professionals have to own the responsibility for the occurrence of maternal mortality and ensure that not a single woman in this country dies during pregnancy."

"It is our duty to ensure that the life of a pregnant woman is not put to unnecessary danger. We started Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) and it has received a huge response," he added.

"Legislation on abortion has been passed and Surrogacy Bill is being taken up. Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill has been passed by Cabinet. These are historic bills and they were based on great inputs given by ICMR," said the minister who also inaugurated the International Conference on Women's Reproductive Health.

Harsh Vardhan also pointed out that the government is taking strong actions to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) by 2025.

"The Centre has pledged to eliminate TB by 2025. The TB eradication programme is an ambitious programme, under which the government pays for total treatment on TB. I would specifically ask NIRRH and all other institutes working in this field to provide suggestions for the elimination of TB from the face of India by 2025."

The minister has called for collective brainstorming among scientists, medical professionals and all other stakeholders of health and medical world, in order to address the challenges faced by the sector.