Maternal mortality rates a matter of concern: PM

Mumbai: Describing neonatal and maternal mortality rates as a matter of grave concern, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said his government wanted to effectively use its 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' campaigns to reach healthcare to the country's poorest of the poor.

Stressing upon cleanliness and hygiene, he said preventive care was the most important component of overall healthcare and also inexpensive.

"It is embarrassing to compare healthcare facilities in our country with those available abroad. Neonatal mortality is a matter of grave concern and so is maternal mortality. "When a child falls into a borewell, families sit in front of TVs and the media gives a running commentary as gloom prevails everywhere, but we are hardly aware that hundreds of children die soon after being born. Many times, the mother and child both die for want of primary healthcare," he said after inaugurating the refurbished and partly newly built H N Reliance Foundation Hospital.

Addressing the gathering which included Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, his wife and Reliance Foundation chairperson Nita, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, Modi said he wanted 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' initiatives effective tools to reach best healtcare facilities to the people.

"Today, when diagnostic machines have replaced the doctor's expertise to a large extent, I want companies to come to India and manufacture expensive equipment needed for medical treatment”, he said.