Low institutional delivery rates: Health officials instructed to take corrective action

Deputy Commissioner Kumar on Monday expressed concern over the low institutional delivery rates reported from 10 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in the district and directed officials to investigate the reasons behind the decline. Currently, 69% of deliveries are taking place in government hospitals, he said.

Presiding over a progress review meeting of National Health programmes at his office, the Deputy Commissioner stressed the need to ensure nutritional support and monitoring in high-risk pregnancies. He also instructed officials to encourage safe institutional deliveries.

SAANS Campaign

Dr. Kumar said a special campaign, Social Awareness and Actions to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully (SAANS), has been launched in the district. The campaign, which began on November 12, will go on till February 28, 2026, to prevent and eliminate pneumonia among young children. Under the initiative, health workers will visit households with children aged 0–5 years, conduct health assessments, and ensure pneumonia-prevention vaccination. He also released the SAANS campaign poster on the occasion.

Action against illegal scanning and sex determination

Dr. Kumar also directed that ultrasound scanning should be performed only for pregnant women possessing the ‘Mother Card’ and warned against illegal scanning and sex determination, which contribute to female foeticide.

He directed officials to conduct regular inspections at all scanning centres, prosecute individuals involved in unlawful scanning, and organise awareness drives to prevent female foeticide.

The Deputy Commissioner further said that the sex ratio in Mandya district stands at only 935 girls per 1,000 males and emphasised the need for urgent measures to correct the imbalance.

District Reproductive and Child Health Officer Dr. K.P. Ashwath, Leprosy Eradication Officer Dr. Somasekhar, Tuberculosis Officer Dr. M.N. Ashalatha, Dr. Bettaswamy, former District Health Officer Dr. T.N. Mari Gowda, and other officials were present.