‘India demonstrated tremendous progress in maternal, child health’

New Delhi, July 11: India has demonstrated tremendous progress in maternal and child health, said Union Health Minister JP Nadda on World Population Day on Thursday, calling for achieving the family planning goals.

Highlighting the success of India’s family planning programme, the Union Health Minister in a blog post, said, “Millennial women in India are opting for smaller families, averaging just two children each” -- a shift in trend from the past decade. He said that 57 per cent in their reproductive age (15 to 49 years) have actively used modern contraception”.

“India has demonstrated tremendous progress on the ground through improved family planning services and dramatically improving health outcomes, especially maternal health and child health,” he said.

Nadda said that family planning empowers women, girls, and youth by providing them with rights and choices.

While “India has already achieved replacement level of fertility at National level (TFR 2.0) and 31 States/UTs have already achieved this milestone as per NFHS-5 (2019-21) constituting a success story in its journey”... the aim is to “maintain and achieve this both nationally and sub-nationally”.

He stressed the need for “healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy for the health and well-being of mother and child.”

Nadda pointed out that the National Planning programme currently offers a variety of reversible modern contraceptives encompassing condoms, intrauterine contraceptive devices, oral pills, injectable contraceptives, etc.

“The government is committed to overcoming barriers related to access, misconceptions about contraceptive methods, and lack of awareness among clients, geographical and economic challenges, and restrictive social and cultural norms,” he noted.

Further, substantial investments are being made to improve family planning service delivery. The programme is also being extended to the last mile through Ayushman Arogya Mandirs.

Nadda called to strive “for a future where every citizen has access to quality healthcare, and where the health and well-being of our people are the foundation of our nation's progress and prosperity”.