Karnataka health & family welfare department has collaborated with Singapore International Foundation (SIF) and Singapore Health Services Pvt Ltd (SingHealth) to give an impetus to better care. The partnership is seen to benefit 1 lakh pregnant women in the state and their newborns.
 
In association with the Karnataka government's State Institute of Health and Family Welfare (SIHFW), SIF launched the Enhancing Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Services Programme to step up the pace of care. The state reports 21 deaths for every 1,000 live births and registered 133 maternal deaths per lakh. This has been attributed to paucity of personnel and poor awareness on the need to access hospitals and primary healthcare centres for delivery, besides prevalence of anaemia and late referrals during complications.
 
Over the next three years, 200 healthcare professionals, one pediatrician, one gynaecologist and nursing staff across 176 government hospitals in Karnataka and 1,297 primary health centres  that report low maternal and infant mortality rates, will be trained under the initiative. They will participate in workshops on managing high-risk pregnancies and infant emergencies. Obstetricians, neonatologists, midwives and senior nurses will visit the city from the Singapore General Hospital (SGH), said Lian Wee Chow, governor, Singapore International Foundation.
 
“We could facilitate meaningful collaboration between the healthcare professionals of Singapore and Karnataka. With almost half of the population  being women, maternal and child healthcare is key to the social and economic development of the state, Tan Hak Koon, head consultant, department of obstetrics and gynecology, SGH.
 
"Singapore has a delivery rate of 50,000 babies per year to Karnataka's 11 lakh. But qualitatively, we have a maternal mortality rate of 133 against Singapore's 10. Karnataka's infant mortality rate is 21 and Singapore's is 1.7. This is a good opportunity to learn from Singapore," said Shalini Rajneesh, principal secretary, department of health and family welfare.
 
According to the central government officials, the high neonatal mortality and fatality is reported from pneumonia and diarrhoea cases.“These diseases continue to be leading causes of deaths in the country attributing to about 80 per cent of the overall under-5 mortality. Interventions like  improving quality of care, paediatric vaccines under Universal Immunization Programme, Project Indradhanush, Corticosteroids injections, have already been rolled out under the Integrated Action Plan for pneumonia and diarrhoea prevention.

Further schemes like Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) that help poor pregnant women after delivery, Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram, giving access to skilled birth attendants, transportation access, sharpening the equity focus have enabled a higher rate of decline of maternal mortality rates. There is considerable focus on delayed age of marriage, ensuring spacing birth, adolescent health programmes such as weekly iron and folic acid supplements, Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics, Menstrual Hygiene Scheme and Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram are to enable good adolescent health.
 
Karnataka specific programmes are Prasooti Araike for the pregnant, Madilu caring for the mother- child and the Thayi Bhagya scheme which is public private partnership with urban private hospitals for women belonging to BPL (below the poverty line) families to avail cashless care in private hospitals.