Quality Improvement Initiatives in Health Sector in India: Need of the Hour

Abstract

Poor quality of health care services is one of the key barriers towards achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite significant improvement in coverage of health care services, the proportionate reduction in maternal and newborn mortality has not been observed which is due to inadequacies in quality of health care services. As per latest figure, only 11 states have achieved the National Health Policy Goal of Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) less than 100 per lakh live births. States like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh has seen rise in maternal mortality which is worrisome and making the situation worse. The key challenges are inadequate quality of health care, absence of an assured service delivery provision and poor involvement of community.