By IANS,
Pilani (Rajasthan) : A change in mindset towards addressing issues related to women and children was the need of the hour to deal with ignorance in healthcare of mother and child, a senior health official has stressed.
“The mental boundary is the first and most important boundary when we talk of moving towards improved healthcare,” said Deoki Nandan, director National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi, at the concluding day Saturday of the three-day conference ‘Empowering Women in Developing Countries through Better Healthcare and Nutrition’ here.
Nandan was the chief guest at the valedictory session.
Raj K. Sharma, minister of state for health, Rajasthan, who was the guest of honour at the function stressed the need for “transformative leadership”.
“Policy makers should be far-sighted and open-minded, and should make sure that policies are made by local people themselves and not by outside experts,” Sharma told IANS.
Anuradha Chandran, communication specialist with Unicef, said that though a lot of data (records of maternal and child health) was generated at the grassroot level, it does not find much use at the policy level.
“There is a need for the data to be analysed and taken to the decision-making table,” Chandran said while stressing upon the need for bridging the gap between the two.
The conference came out with suggestions and recommendations for better health care and nutrition for women in developing countries.
The event was organised by the Women Studies and Societal Development Unit, Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, jointly with the Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned and other Developing Countries and was supported by the United Nations International Children’s Fund (Unicef).
Delegates from 18 countries, including India, participated in the conference with an aim to identify the obstacles to providing healthcare to women and formulate strategies for improving the health and nutrition of women and children.