The Indian Express, 20th October 2001

An alliance dedicated to ensuring safe motherhood

IF 676 fully occupied Airbus 320s crashed every year, killing all passengers on board, the figure-121,000- equals the number of women in India who die every year from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Almost all these deaths can be prevented.

Every minute, a woman somewhere in the world dies from a complication related to pregnancy or childbirth. This amounts to 600,000 women dying every year. In India, a woman dies every five minutes from a pregnancy related cause.

Harsh facts that have sparked off a movement in the form of a `White Ribbon Alliance'.

The white ribbon is dedicated to the memory of all women who have died in pregnancy and childbirth and to stop these needless deaths by taking individual and collective action.

Launching the Maharashtra chapter of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood today, Dr.S.D.Gokhale, President of Community Aid & sponsorship programme (CASP) said safe motherhood was not just a health issue, but a fundamental human right.

Coordinator for the While Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood-India chapter, Aparajita Gogoi, said at a function organized on Friday at the Maharatta Chamber of Commerce and Industries that the aim of the movement was to raise awareness among citizens, international NGOs and the government about the need to ensure safe pregnancy and childbirth.

While the colour white symbolizes grief or death, it also stands for hope and the White Ribbon Alliance points out that the deaths could have been prevented through health and nutrition interventions and use of essential obstetric care, Dr.Ashima Mitra of CASP PLAN, Delhi said.

The underlying causes for maternal mortality are poor health and nutrition, lack of physical access to health care, medical causes and socio cultural factors that obstruct and underplay the importance of health care for women, Dr.Dilip Pardeshi, Deputy Health Officer, Pune Municipal Corporation said.

Dr.G.A.Panse, senior consultant, Reproductive Child Health (RCH) project, KEM Hospital, Neelam Gorhe, Chairperson of Stree Adhar Kendra and others spoke on the occasion. Eminent gynecologist Dr.Banoo Coyaji was also present.