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| Discussion in progress |
The discussion was
chaired by Ms. Vandana Chavan, MP, Rajya Sabha. Dr. Rajan Sarkar, Country
Manager, India and Senior Advisor, South Asia at GAIN, gave a detailed
presentation on child survival which focused on nutrition and immunization
which was followed by an open discussion. A multi-party group of 22 MPs
participated in the discussion.
Ms. Vandana Chavan
made a special mention about the significant contribution of such interactive
discussions organized by GPPI and GHS. She shared that such meetings and the
interest shown by the parliamentarians has resulted in the formation of the Political
Leaders’ Coalition for Children and Adolescent Health, under the leadership
of Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal. This has benefited a great deal of people and has
encouraged crucial interventions.
Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal briefed the gathering on some key issues that
highlight the current state of women and child healthcare in India. Firstly, he
highlighted that every area of healthcare, ranging from pregnancy to neo-natal
health, has been incorporated in various schemes and programmes. The issues is
more to do with accessibility to these benefits. With stronger presence of
schemes such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and National Health Mission (NHM),
the role of parliamentarians becomes even more significant.
The discussion
following the presentations included a number of suggestions,
recommendations and critical questions. The participants contributed to an
engaging round of questions and comments.
