MSD for Mothers has launched global initiative for reducing maternal mortality rate in India. This initiative is launched by collaborating with three leading non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to improve the quality of healthcare that pregnant women in India receive through the private sector.

The Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust (HLFPPT), Pathfinder International with World Health Partners (Pathfinder), and the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood with Gram Vaani (WRA) together will reach around 500,000 pregnant women in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand – areas with some of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the country.

Talking about the benefits of the launch to India, K G Ananthakrishnan, managing director, MSD India said, “We are proud to have partnered with such prestigious organisations and launch our global MSD for Mothers initiative in India. I believe the project has great potential to benefit our Country in helping reduce maternal mortality with a collaborative approach.”

“We have made great strides towards Millennium Development Goal 5, but we know there’s more work to do to reach that target,” Mamta Sharma, chairperson, National Commission for Women said speaking at the India launch. “These new partnerships demonstrate innovative ways of working together to address this issue and bring India closer to our goal.”

Most care in India is provided by the private sector, which includes a diverse array of independent physicians, nurses, and midwives as well as clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, and health insurers. Additionally, private care is often supported by ambulance services, mobile service providers, and financial institutions.

“Maternal mortality is one of the oldest and most preventable health tragedies in the world today. While India has made progress in addressing this, there is still a lot that can be done collectively by the Government, NGOs and the private sector,” said Naveen Rao, MD, lead, MSD for Mothers. “Our focus in India is to work with partners who have the capability to improve maternal health care services delivered through the private sector and ultimately decrease the number of women still dying during pregnancy and childbirth.”

MSD for Mothers and its partners are working to accelerate India’s progress towards the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal 5, reducing the global maternal mortality rate by 75 per cent by 2015. This goal is not currently on track to be achieved. While India has reduced its rate by approximately 67 per cent since 1990, Indian women are still dying during pregnancy and childbirth and there is still a lot that can be done to help prevent maternal mortality.

These partnerships will complement the government’s initiatives to reduce maternal mortality. Specifically, efforts in India will focus on: making private care more affordable by offering private providers standardized tools, protocols, and branding across networks of health facilities; improving quality of care by training doctors, nurses, and health workers and offering women new ways to rate the care they receive; and connecting women in remote areas to doctors and nurses in cities through telecommunication and internet.

MSD for Mothers was formed by Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), known as Merck in the United States and Canada, to help create a world where no woman dies from complications of pregnancy and childbirth.

MSD for Mothers is a 10-year, half-billion-dollar initiative to create a world where no woman dies from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. MSD for Mothers has already launched the Merck for Ugandan Mothers (MUM) partnership with Population Services International and their local affiliate – the Programme for Accessible Health, Communication, and Education (PACE).