We must invest in mothers’ health: Shabana Azmi

Shabana Azmi, who is the ambassador of international NGO Save the Children, is launching a new online campaign on Mother’s Day calling for more and more women to become health workers. She says, “Mother’s Day is a grim reminder of thousands of mothers dying during child-birth.” A report by the NGO ranks India as the highest in the world in terms of shortfall of health workers. The report calls for investment in female health-care workers to address the shortfall needed to save the lives of mothers, newborn babies and kids.“It is sad that on one hand our country is emerging as a global power and on the other we have shocking statistics on maternal, newborn and child mortality. As a nation we must invest in mothers’ health. There is a critical role of female health workers in the fight to reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality. Countries that train and deploy more front-line female health workers have seen dramatic decline in maternal, newborn and child mortality. It is not merely a issue of women’s health but a critical link between status of women, literacy levels and her health, which is so grossly neglected in our country. Strong, healthy women lead to strong, healthy children,” she ends.