Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- At a meeting of the Kengash of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis on 28 September, the issue of studying the state of ongoing work to protect reproductive health, motherhood and childhood was discussed. The meeting with the participation of senators, representatives of relevant ministries and departments was chaired by the Chairman of the Senate Tanzila Narbayeva.

The meeting reviewed the state of maternity and childhood protection, medical care provided to women of reproductive age and children, existing problems in this area and proposals for their elimination.

It was noted that 227 maternity institutions in all regions of the republic provide qualified, specialized high-tech medical care to 9.1 million women of childbearing age, and more than 11.3 million children under the age of 18 (32.0% of total population) are served by 238 children’s medical institutions.

In accordance with the approved schedule for medical examinations of women of childbearing age for 8 months of 2022, 6.7 million (74.1%) of the 9.1 million women of childbearing age underwent a medical examination, of which 2.9 million (42.9 %) revealed extragenital diseases.

About 2.2 million women (75.9%) underwent rehabilitation, including 2 million women (90.4%) in outpatient settings and 200,000 women (9.3%) in inpatient settings.

At the meeting, along with the work done, attention was focused on the shortcomings identified during the initial study conducted by the Senate.

In particular, infant mortality in 2021 was 7,214, which is 160 more than in 2020 (7054/7214).

In addition, it was emphasized that in the regions there are a number of shortcomings in the implementation of the State Program for the Early Detection of Congenital and Hereditary Diseases in Children in 2018-2022.

Moreover, the issue of strengthening the material and technical base of the maternity institutions of the republic in accordance with international standards and providing the necessary medicines in order to improve the quality of medical care for pregnant women, women in childbirth, women who have given birth and newborns has not been fully resolved.

During the meeting, proposals from specialists in the field on existing problems and their elimination were heard.

After the opinions expressed, based on the need for a deep, systematic, if necessary, critical study and analysis of this issue, a resolution was adopted by the Kengash of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis on the establishment of a Working Group to study the state of implementation of preventive measures to protect motherhood and childhood, and preserve reproductive health. The working group headed by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Science, Education and Health included representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers, relevant ministries, departments and institutions.

It is entrusted to the working group within a month to study the real situation in the regions in this direction and, by 1 November, to submit specific proposals to the Kengash of the Senate.

As a result of the discussions, relevant instructions were given to reduce maternal and infant mortality in maternity hospitals, organize high-quality medical examinations for women of childbearing age, and control the targeted spending of budget funds.