MDG 4: Reduce Child Mortality

Case Study: The Odisha Health Sector Project in India

Prevention keeps mums and babies healthy from conception to first birthday.

Pippa Ranger/DFID

The Odisha Health Sector Project is helping save the lives of mothers and babies by providing more and better health services—recruiting and training doctors and nurses and getting them to outlying clinics; training village community health workers; and making sure families in the remotest villages benefit from services. A behaviour-change communications campaign reaches 40,000 villages across Odisha—helping pregnant women, new mothers, and health workers get the latest advice on nutrition, health and sanitation. Local women self-help groups also supply nutritional food supplements to the community health centres, meaning in the last three years, 50,000 more vulnerable children received nutritional services.

Odisha accounts for one third of all malaria deaths in India. The project distributes anti-malaria bed nets to pregnant women to help prevent malaria related deaths of infants and pregnant women, meaning 12,000 fewer babies are dying in Odisha in 2010 as compared to 2006. Local community health workers have also been trained to give care and support to mums-to-be in every village, as well as give family planning advice, across the state of Odisha.