‘Navjaat Shishu Suraksha’ literally means ‘Protection for the newborn.’ Newborns are our future citizens. If we do not take care of the health of newborns, we will not be ensured that the next generation will be healthy and productive. We must try our best to ensure adequate frameworks in the country that will assist the health of newborns in ensuring that they have a good start in life. Approximately ten percent of newborns need some form of assistance after birth. The condition of a fetus in utero is very different from a newborn outside the womb. The Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK) aims to train medical personnel in basic newborn care and resuscitation. This may be critical to the survival of several newborns as certain complications and issues may arise on the birth of a child, such as prevention of hypothermia, prevention of infection, ensuring early initiation of breastfeeding, and basic resuscitation of newborns.

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Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram Benefits

Every scheme started by the administration of India has certain kinds of benefits that seek to serve some group with a specified goal. The Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK) scheme and the NSSK benefits or Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram benefits is to have at least one person who has been trained in basic newborn care and resuscitation present at every delivery. The training of the medical personnel will be based on the latest available scientific evidence and will play a significant role in tackling neonatal mortality. All the medical facilities or setups where NSSK is provided to those that meet the conditions relating to NSSK eligibility or Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram eligibility will be able to provide the necessary medical care with the support of suitable newborn care equipment, which will be present at that particular facility.

Eligibility For The Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK)

The Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK) is a scheme that aims at properly training medical personnel so that they may be able to provide emergency services to newborns who meet the NSSK eligibility or Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram eligibility conditions in the situation any medical or health complexity arises relating to the newborn. This will be administered to them via the Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram NSSK benefits. These may be issues such as preventing hypothermia, preventing infection, ensuring early breastfeeding initiation, and basic resuscitation of newborns. These are some kinds of health complexities that may often arise after the child has been born. These factors may often lead to the death of children shortly after birth. The newborns are hence eligible to receive treatment through this scheme for which the medical staff at the particular health facilities that provide medical services relating to the Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK). The medical staff is eligible to receive the necessary training so that they may be able to perform the necessary procedures and give suitable treatments when health-related complexities arise concerning newborn babies through the NSSK benefits or Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram benefits.

What Is The Goal Of Navjaat Shishu Suraksha?

Different schemes that the government has initiated have different goals. The newborns in the country and their health is important. It is imperative to implement schemes such as Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK) and provide NSSK benefits or Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram benefits so that we may be able to steer clear from issues like infant mortality which have plagued the nation for a long time, even though it has reduced now. ‘Navjaat Shishu Suraksha’ literally means ‘Protection for the newborn .’Every child’s life is valuable and must not be taken for granted, and we need to train medical staff generously to ensure this happens. The government of India has been taking necessary steps to implement the Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK) adequately. This has been done since its initiation in the year 2009 to build the capacity of the doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel to provide good quality newborn care, which may be critical for them around the time they are born.

Need for the Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK) scheme

Before and even after the initiation of the Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK) scheme, there has been a great need for the benefits received through this scheme throughout the nation. It has played an important role when it comes to infant care. In India, we have observed a steep fall in childhood and infant mortality in recent decades. While this may be a positive fact, we must understand that neonatal mortality rates are still high. The rate of childhood and infant mortality was simply higher before. Childhood and infant mortality is still a critical and relevant issue that needs to be addressed by the administration of the country and the healthcare structures that operate within it to tackle this issue even further effectively. Nearly two-thirds of infant deaths occur annually within the first four weeks of life. Approximately two-thirds of these deaths happen within the first week of life, bringing a sense of urgency to tackle this issue effectively. The first days and weeks of the newborn’s life are critical for a child’s future health and survival. No child must lose their life, and no parent must lose their child due to the inefficiencies of the medical system in our country. The Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK) has been initiated to address this issue and, further, this idea that no newborn bust lose their life because of factors out of their control.

Importance Of Training Of Medical Personnel & Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK)

The better the medical supervision received when it comes to health complications, the better health a person will have overall, and as a result, the longer they will live, have a better standard of life, have increased avenues to take on challenges in life, be more productive, be ensured of being able to offer a good life to their offspring or children as well. This list of benefits of receiving good quality healthcare goes on. It is important to be well-trained and sound in your area of medicine if you want your patient to experience the benefits of good quality healthcare. It is essential to train medical personnel to handle medical complications in newborns, such as preventing hypothermia, preventing infection, ensuring early initiation of breastfeeding, and basic resuscitation of newborns because the training could make the difference between the life and death of the newborn. Specific medical tools that one may need to treat the newborns in such situations or specific procedures would only be successful if performed correctly. Medical staff is trained and ready to provide the NSSK benefits or Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram benefits to infants that meet the NSSK eligibility or Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram eligibility terms whenever an infant may need it after it is born.

History Of The Scheme

Before we discuss the terms, eligibility, or other information about the scheme, we must first understand the history of the scheme and how it has served the people of India. The Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK) scheme has played a positive role in infant care in the country since 2009. The States have rolled out training for medical officers, nurses, and auxiliary nurse midwives on their own for several years since the scheme was initiated. The Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK), launched in the year 2009 in September by Union Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad, has made it possible for the lives of several children to be saved when complications have occurred after birth, which has been a boon to the families of these infants as well. The IMR or Infant Mortality Rate in India in 2012 was 46 per 1000 in rural and 28 in urban areas, down from 66 and 38 in 2003. These figures exhibit a decline in the death rate over a decade of 30% in rural and 26% in urban areas. There has certainly been a decline in the Infant Mortality Rate or IMR in India since the initiation of the Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK) scheme. The scheme has been successful not only in saving the lives of infants that have health complications after their birth but also in the proper training of the medical staff that will be posted at the different hospitals that provide services through the Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK) and ensuring that they are well rounded when it comes to the tasks that they may have to perform as well.

Social Aims Of The Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK) Scheme

The Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK), besides its medical benefits to infants and the training that may be stipulated to certain medical personnel, also offers some social aims. These social aims are social aspects like informing people about healthy practices when it comes to handling newborn children, especially if they are dealing with some kinds of health complications, to receive the best outcome from the professional medical supervision that may be received through the medical staff. There is a lot of ignorance related to infant care in India. A questionnaire-based survey that covered the region of Haryana indicated that there is poor knowledge and practices when it comes to neonatal resuscitation among the healthcare personnel who are in charge of attending deliveries. The importance of colostrum, or the mother’s first milk, may also be taught to people who belong to ignorant communities. In many regions in India, there is a lot of ignorance about whether mothers’ milk should be given to a child after birth. Mothers’ milk, especially first milk or colostrum, is vital and beneficial for a child, and one must try and give this to a child after birth if possible. It has also been observed that there is a lack of information regarding many neonatal resuscitation practices among pediatricians in Gujarat. There may be several situations where girl children will be given less nutrition after birth in many places that prefer a male child or believe that girl children do not need as much nutrition as a male child. This practice causes girl children to be much weaker than males, which could result in complications, deficiencies, and issues even after the girl child passes the infancy stage. The NSSK, therefore, plays an essential social role in tackling misinformation, discrimination, and malpractice in the field of medicine as well.

Universal Healthcare & Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK)

Universal Healthcare is essential for all, and the goal of schemes such as Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK) and the NSSK benefits or Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram benefits is to increase access to medical care and medical services for all, in India, we have not yet attained the ideal situation of universal healthcare or healthcare regardless where the person may come from, what their financial status is, how much they may need the different kinds of medical assistance that medical institutions and medical facilities may be able to offer to others. While we still may have yet to achieve this, it is crucial to understand the relationship between Universal Healthcare and NSSK. Firstly, one may have to meet the NSSK eligibility or Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram eligibility terms to benefit from the scheme. Through the NSSK, medical training of a crucial nature is done, which will assist newborns experiencing different kinds of medical complications. By being able to assist this important group in the country through the NSSK benefits or Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram benefits, we will, through the medical structures in the country, ensure and consolidate the health of our newborns as well as the future health of the country by securing the medical stability of those who will comprise the next generation in the country. The Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (NSSK) not only impacts infants’ health now but is also an assurance for the future.

Training For Low-Resource Settings Through NSSK

Medical training is done through the scheme for emergency issues that medical staff may have related to newborns that meet the NSSK eligibility or Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram eligibility conditions. The different doctors, nurses, and ANMs will be trained in low-resource settings where medical assistance is urgently needed to be provided to a newborn child. The goal is to equip the staff with knowledge and skills to improve service delivery quality. In an effort to address this, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched the NSSK. A simple, scalable module has been made to train the necessary medical staff. This module offers adequate training regarding newborns and their resuscitation in urgent situations and has been developed for NSSK. The NSSK provides evidence-based knowledge regarding improving the medical assistance afforded to newborns’ health, especially directly after the child’s birth. After the training, the health provider will provide the necessary care to the child at birth, identify and manage common complications, stabilize (if necessary), and refer or transfer the newborns that need additional interventions. The children afforded these services must meet Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram eligibility terms and be at a facility that offers the NSSK benefits or Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram benefits. Through the NSSK, the medical professionals will be trained at particular district hospitals, community health centers, and primary health centers in the interventions at birth with the application of the latest available scientific methods which are specifically aimed at significantly reducing the infant mortality ratio and improving the quality of life for the future citizens of the country.

Conclusion

Healthcare is important for all, including newborns that may not be able to take care of themselves, so it is important to make a scheme that takes care of their needs at the early stages of life. The early stage of life is a critical time for a newborn and health-related complexities may cause issues in the future as well. These medical complexities may cause a lot of distress to newborns and their families if they are not dealt with appropriately. The child may even go through so much distress due to such complexities that they may not be able to make it and may lose their life after going through the particular complexity. These issues may arise after the birth of a child, which may involve the prevention of hypothermia, infection prevention, early initiation of breastfeeding, and basic resuscitation of newborns. By properly treating the newborns, they can start their lives, relieving their families and assuring the country that its future citizens have been well taken care of. The NSSK, therefore, provides crucial training to medical staff that may be in charge of performing life-saving procedures which will save the lives of the newborns in such situations. The NSSK has played an essential role for over a decade and continues to do so to ensure the health of all newborns in India is well taken care of.

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