Maternal allowance can help reduce in mortality rate
Speakers at a roundtable yesterday said maternal allowance can ensure proper healthcare facilities to poor women in the country and help create awareness among the people about healthcare services.
Poor women are vulnerable to maternal mortality, as they do not get proper care due to their economic insolvency. Maternal allowance can also empower them, they added.
Styled 'Maternal allowance in building deprivation-free healthy nation,' the roundtable was organised by Development Organisation of the Rural Poor (DORP) and daily Jugantor at National Press Club in the city.
Welcoming the government move to introduce maternal allowance project in the national budget, the speakers called on it to enhance the programme.
Economist Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud was present on the occasion as the chief guest while acting editor and publisher of the Jugantor Salma Islam was present as the special guest.
Dr Mahmud said the introduction of maternal allowance is a nice start.
“We have achieved a number of millennium development goals (MDGs) including lessening child mortality rate and increasing girls' school going rate, but we did not achieve much in cutting the maternal mortality rate,” he said, adding that maternal allowance can be a tool to reduce the mortality rate.
He further said, “We can take the opportunity to create awareness among the people about maternal healthcare using the project.”
Former adviser to a caretaker government Dhiraj Kumar Nath and N-Gender Health Country Director Dr Abu Zamil Faisal presented a keynote paper at the meeting.
In the paper, they said maternal allowance for the government would not be an expense; rather it would be an investment, as it could create awareness about healthcare services, adding that the project could also help reduce population growth as the allowance is granted to the mothers for their first child.
They recommended that the government should enhance the project and conduct research in this regard and evaluate some of its outcomes.
The project was first introduced in the national budget in 2007 under the safety net programme when 45,000 women were covered under the project in 3,000 unions who were given Tk 300 each per month for 24 months.
In the current fiscal, the project was taken out for 4,500 unions to cover 60,000 women who would be given the same amount for 24 months. The total project would cost Tk 21 crore.
The speakers demanded steps to provide mothers with health cards, education cards, shelter cards, Tk 30,000 for livelihood and micro-credit facilities.
Presided over by former adviser to a caretaker government and Chairman of Social Harmony Citizen's Group M Hafizuddin Khan, the roundtable was moderated by DORP Secretary General AHM Nouman.
Health Ministry Programme Support Office and team leader Dr MA Sabur, Dr MA Mabud of North South University, and writer and researcher Shaoal Khan also spoke.
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