kolkata: In the past four years, teenage pregnancy came down to 19 per cent from 23 per cent. According to sources,
teenage pregnancy rate in Bengal would be around 19 per cent. State Health department aims to bring the teenage pregnancy rate below 10 per cent. A top health official said that due to the smooth implementation of the 'Kanyashree' scheme, the teenage pregnancy scenario has improved in the past few years.
State health department is preparing comprehensive data regarding teenage pregnancy scenarios in the districts as there is always a high risk for mortality during delivery. State government is going to give more stress to check teenage pregnancy through various ways and means.
A senior health department official said that teenage pregnancy is a socio-economic issue. Whatever data is available with the health department is not adequate. Hence, data is being collected from various districts.
More attention and care should be given in case of teenage pregnancy, feels the official. The main purpose of the move is to check teenage pregnancy. Once the accurate data are available from the districts, a more effective approach can be taken against this social menace.
Once the detailed data are collected from the districts, it will help the government to navigate the challenges and address them in a more effective manner. The official also said that Bengal is among those states which have a high teenage pregnancy rate with Tripura at the top of the list. As per the available information with the Swasthya Bhawan, teenage pregnancy scenario has however improved in the state from what it had been earlier due to various social schemes including 'Kanyashree'.
It may be mentioned here that the health department on Tuesday formed an expert team which will visit those areas where maternity deaths are being reported.
The purpose of the move is to reduce the maternal mortality in the state. The team will visit the hospitals and carry out a detailed probe in this regard. Special antenatal clinics will also be set up at all the block primary health centres.