Lalitpur, January 14:

The Ministry of Health and Population today launched free maternity services and medicines for pregnant women in all government hospitals and health institutions across the nation.

Speaking at a function organised at the Maternity Hospital to announce launch of the

programme, Minister for Health and Population Giriraj Mani Pokharel said free maternity service would be provided to encourage women to seek hospital service during pregnancy and to reduce maternal and child mortality rates.

He said the government would provide 40 types of essential services and medicines to pregnant women in all district hospitals and health posts from today. The government has already been providing Rs 1,500, Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 as transportation fare to pregnant women in Mountainous, hilly and Tarai districts, respectively, as part of the incentives to encourage them to seek medical services during pregnancy.

The hospitals with maternity services would be provided with Rs 1,000 for general maternity service, Rs 3,000 for basic emergency obstetric care (BEOC) service and Rs 5,000 for complicated surgery so as to provide free service to the pregnant women.

The authorities concerned will monitor all the activities in the health sector for the effective implementation of the project, according to the ministry. The ministry has estimated to spend Rs 169 million

on transportation fares and Rs 390 million on free maternity services in the next 10 months. The Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom has agreed to provide $4.3 million for the implementation of the project.