Women health to women rights, women rights to women reproductive health, women reproductive health to women adolescent and child health, whatever words used from time to time, based on the experience gained, reduction of maternal and infant mortality and improvement in reproductive and child health status always remained priority in most of the state including Madhya Pradesh.
Reproductive and Child Health Program
Context
Maternal and child health gained importance as a National Health Programme in the year 1997 with the launch of Reproductive and Child Health Programme (RCH). The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India introduced the Mother NGO scheme under the RCH Programme. The underlying philosophy of the Mother NGO scheme was nurturing and capacity building. With the implementation of new guidelines the focus was shifted from mere awareness to service delivery. Broad objectives of the programme were:
- Addressing the gaps in information on RCH services in the project area.
- Building strong institutional capacity at the state/district/field level.
- Advocacy and awareness generation.
MPVHA Efforts
MPVHA was designated as Mother NGO by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India for Dhar and Jhabua districts in the year 1999-2000. MPVHA selected 10 Field level NGOs (FNGOs) in two districts, from its member organizations, to implement the programme. The project completed in the year 2005.
Major Outcomes
- Involvement of Civil Society at grass-root level ensured access to the health services by community members.