Fact Finding Report on Right to Health & Maternal Health

Post Date: Thursday, September 8, 2016

While India has performed poorly on maternal healthcare than any other country in the world, approximately 17.3% of the world’s population, India accounts for 19% of the world’s maternal deaths. Assam has recorded the highest maternal mortality rate in India at 328 (Sample Registration Survey (2010-2012) as compared to 178 for the rest of India.  A decline of 15 % was recorded in maternal deaths in 2014-15 in Assam compared to the previous year.

The fact-finding team from HRLN visited Assam and was profoundly disturbed by the details surrounding the death of a pregnant woman. The systems designed to provide adequate care for pregnant women are not properly administered, directly violating multiple international agreements that India is a party to, establishing a right to survive pregnancy and childbirth.

There have been instances of breakdown in mechanism leading to delay in obtaining antenatal health care, delay in reaching PHC and delay in receiving care at the facility resulted in a failure to avert a preventable maternal mortality. All of the events in this case constitutes violation of multiple rights provided by the constitution, including the fundamental right to health, right to pregnancy and survive delivery, right to be treated with dignity and guaranteed access to medical services regardless of status.