BHUBANESWAR: Reproductive Health (RH) service component will be added to disaster response and disaster mitigation plan at the State and district levels.This was decided in the joint advocacy meeting held under the chairmanship of Development Commissioner Rabi Narayan Senapati here on Tuesday.The meeting emphasised the need for inclusion of RH service component in disaster response and contingency plans as the pregnant women and lactating mothers suffer a lot during a calamity situation.In a disaster situation when normal service provision is abruptly disturbed, the reproductive health needs become more emergent creating high risks of mortality and morbidity. An overall estimate shows around 60 per cent area of the country is vulnerable to earthquake, 70 per cent is prone to drought, 40 million hectares of land is prone to floods and around 8,000 km coastline is vulnerable to cyclones.A scholarly estimate shows, approximately 4 per cent of the displaced population are generally pregnant women at a given point of time and out of them around 15 per cent suffer from unpredictable obstetric complications which put them to higher risks.There are also other risks like sexual harassment, abuse, unsafe abortion and unwanted pregnancy. Generally, reproductive health needs are either overlooked or not addressed adequately by the disaster managers.Considering the magnitude and fatality of the problem the committee decided to add RH service component to disaster response contingency plans at all levels. The service will be introduced through minimum initial service package (MISP) intervention. The goal of MISP is to reduce mortality, morbidity and disability among women and girls affected by disasters by enhancing their access to RH information and services.This will be supported by training, coordination and planning at community level along with supply of RH kits for use in emergency. The Development Commissioner advised to constitute the State-level coordination committee under chairmanship of Director, NRHM, and district level committees under the chairmanship of district collectors.The managing director of the State Disaster Mitigation Authority and chief medical officers of concerned districts will work as member convener at State level and district levels respectively for this purpose. It has been proposed that funds required for the purpose will be allocated through Special Relief Commissioner.Revenue & Disaster Management Principal Secretary Taradatt, Secretary Health & Family Welfare Secretary Anu Garg, SRC PK Mohapatra, Director, Women & Child Development Sujata Karthikeyan and senior officials of National Disaster Mitigation Authority and the United Nations Population Fund were present.
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