- Survey report for 2021-23 shows a significant decline in mortality rate compared to 2015-17
- 102 (Mother and Child Services) ambulance reaching pregnant women in just seven minutes
Lucknow: The Yogi government’s 102 ambulance service (Mother and Child Services) is proving to be a major support for pregnant women. Earlier, delays in getting timely medical help often put the lives of pregnant women at risk. To address this, the Yogi government strengthened the 102 ambulance service, playing an important role in reducing the maternal mortality ratio in the state.
Due to these efforts, the response time of the 102 ambulance service has now come down to just seven minutes. This means medical help is reaching people within seven minutes during emergencies. Uttar Pradesh currently ranks first in the country in ambulance response time.
Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Amit Ghosh said, “Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took several major steps to reduce the maternal mortality ratio. Along with strengthening hospitals in both urban and rural areas, multiple measures were taken to reduce the response time of the 102 ambulance service. The results of these efforts are now visible. Due to the CM’s vision and continuous monitoring, the response time of ambulance service 102 has now come down to 7:06 minutes, compared to 11:28 minutes in 2016.”
He said, this improvement did not happen suddenly, but was achieved through continuous efforts and initiatives taken over the past nine years. To achieve this goal, the CM replaced old ambulances in 2019 and 2023 by purchasing 1,554 and 674 new ambulances equipped with modern health technology.
He added, apart from this, 306 additional ambulances were added to further improve the service. At present, a total of 2,270 ambulances under service 102 are operating in the state. Through this service, an average of 40,524 mothers and children are being assisted daily across Uttar Pradesh.
Mission Director of the National Health Mission, Dr Pinky Jowel, said that the reduction in the response time of the 102 ambulance service has led to a significant decline in the maternal mortality ratio in the state. According to the Sample Registration Survey (SRS), the maternal mortality ratio in Uttar Pradesh was 216 per lakh during 2015-17, which has now reduced to 141 per lakh in 2021-23.
According to the Mission Director, the response time of the ambulance service has consistently improved due to the efforts of CM Yogi. She said, “The response time of ambulance service 102 was 11:28 minutes in 2016, 12:01 minutes in 2017, and 11:21 minutes in 2018. During the global COVID-19 pandemic, the response time was recorded at 13:42 minutes in 2020 and 12:02 minutes in 2021. After that, it improved to 7:01 minutes in 2022 and 7:02 minutes in 2023. At present, the response time stands at 7:06 minutes.”
The most important point is that Uttar Pradesh has the fastest ambulance response time in the country despite being India’s most populous state with a population of 25.74 crore. Uttar Pradesh ranks first with a response time of 7:06 minutes, followed by Rajasthan at 7:57 minutes and Kerala at 10:45 minutes.
