The SUMAN (Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan) Roadmap 2030 launched by 10 October 2019 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to achieve zero avoidable maternal and newborn deaths. Explore its key features, interventions and goal of reducing the Maternal Mortality Ratio below 70 by 2030.
The SUMAN (Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan) Roadmap 2030 is a strategic framework launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to eliminate preventable maternal and newborn deaths in India. It builds on the SUMAN initiative by strengthening quality maternal and newborn healthcare services, ensuring respectful maternity care, improving emergency obstetric and neonatal services, and expanding access to skilled healthcare providers. The roadmap also focuses on reducing regional disparities, enhancing health infrastructure, and promoting accountability through continuous monitoring. Its primary target is to reduce the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to below 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030 in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
What is SUMAN Roadmap 2030?
The SUMAN stands for Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan. SUMAN (Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan) initiative was launched on 10 October 2019 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India. The SUMAN Roadmap 2030 is India's national strategic framework designed to eliminate maternal and newborn deaths by the year 2030. The strategy aims to shift healthcare from a general ‘one size fits all’ model to highly localized and data-driven interventions. Since the launch date, the strategy has been aggressively working to reduce the maternal mortality ratio to below 70 per 100,000 live births.
Key Features of SUMAN Roadmap 2030
The SUMAN Roadmap 2030 integrates maternal and newborn care, promotes community engagement, targets geographic action and encourages climate resilient action. The strategy entitles citizens to strict service guarantees and compels accountability on the healthcare provider part. Let’s take a look at the key features of SUMAN roadmap 2030: -
1. Continuum of Care
The Continuum of Care under SUMAN Roadmap 2030 Integrates maternal and newborn health with family planning and nutrition. It looks after the mother from pre-pregnancy through safe delivery and the postpartum phase.
2. Focused Geographic Action
The strategy implements targeted and time bound interventions in 130 vulnerable districts across 13 states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Assam. This focused geographic action prioritises areas with a volatile maternal mortality ratio.
3. Community Engagement
The SUMAN Roadmap 2030 institutionalizes local platforms such as SUMAN Panchayats and Mothers' Picnic events to educate communities, strengthen public participation, and improve healthcare outreach. These initiatives also highlight the role of Panchayati Raj Institutions in promoting maternal and newborn health, monitoring health service delivery, encouraging institutional deliveries, increasing immunization coverage, and spreading awareness about essential maternal and child healthcare services.
4. Accountability and Grievance Redressal
The strategy entitles citizens to strict service guarantees for maternal and child healthcare. It offers zero tolerance for service denials or informal bribe demands. To push healthcare providers to take accountability, the strategy sets up dedicated dashboards and call centres for real time tracking.
5. Climate Resilient Planning
The strategy offers climate resilient planning by redesigning healthcare infrastructure to withstand extreme weather and climate change. It ensures uninterrupted medical supply chains during floods and heatwaves.
Major Interventions of SUMAN Roadmap 2030
The SUMAN Roadmap 2030 has introduced advanced technology and safety, emergency medical infrastructure and post-natal integrations. It also conducts risk management activities by monitoring high risk pregnancies. Let’s take a look at the major interventions of SUMAN roadmap 2030: -
1. Advanced Technology and Safety
The SUMAN Roadmap 2030 utilises smart digital monitoring systems in delivery units to track maternal and fatal distress. Also, the JANANI portal acts as a centralized cloud framework for the real-time tracking of clinical interventions. These integrations highlight advanced technology and safety.
2. Risk Management
The strategy conducts risk management by monitoring high risk pregnancies across specific phases such as antenatal, third-trimester, intrapartum and postnatal. It pushes the Mandates Accredited Social Health Activists to conduct home check-ups twice a week during the critical 8th and 9th months of pregnancy.
3. Emergency Medical Infrastructure
The strategy equips emergency transit vehicles with Non-Pneumatic Anti-Shock Garments to stabilize severe postpartum hemorrhages. It also sets up Birth Waiting Homes in tribal and remote locations to accommodate women close to medical centres.
4. Post Natal Integrations
The SUMAN Roadmap 2030 prescribes routine folic acid supplementation and direct nutritional interventions to control maternal anaemia. It integrates post natal care through the Samagra Shishu Bal Swasthya Karyakram to provide childcare up to 36 months of age.
Significance of SUMAN Roadmap 2030
The SUMAN Roadmap 2030 has a lot of significance such as enforceable healthcare, climate resilient infrastructure, bridging rural urban healthcare gaps and embedding institutional transparency. It also accelerates SDG alignment by meeting specific goals. Let’s take a look at the significance of SUMAN roadmap 2030:-
1. Embeds Institutional Transparency
The strategy utilises real-time data through the JANANI portal to eliminate underreporting of maternal deaths. In line with the standards promoted by the World Health Organization , it compels healthcare institutions to provide transparent and accurate information. It also transforms clinical errors into systematic policy corrections, strengthens accountability, improves maternal death surveillance, and supports evidence-based decision-making to enhance the quality of maternal healthcare services.
2. Enforceable Healthcare
The SUMAN roadmap 2030 sends out zero tolerance legal frameworks against medical service denials and informal cash demands. It grants women a legal right to free delivery, free drugs, diagnostics and emergency transport which makes healthcare enforceable.
3. Bridges Rural Urban Healthcare Gaps
The strategy builds critical care infrastructure in 130 historically underserved regions. It also deploys birth waiting homes to solve geographic and transport barriers for remote and tribal communities. This bridges the rural urban healthcare gaps as women no longer need to travel to seek services.
4. Accelerates SDG Alignment
The SUMAN Roadmap 2030 drives India toward achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. It also promotes the use of the ABHA Card to strengthen digital health records, improve continuity of maternal and newborn care, and ensure seamless access to healthcare services. The roadmap provides targeted support to reduce the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to below 70 per 100,000 live births while aiming for a significant decline in neonatal and under-five mortality rates across all regions.
5. Climate Resilient Infrastructure
The strategy also focuses on climate resilient infrastructure. It mandates solar backups and flood resistant supply chains so that emergency deliveries never lose power. Climate resilient planning acts as a buffer to stabilize and protect medical achievements.
Conclusion
SUMAN Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan Launched on 10 October 2019 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the SUMAN (Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan) Roadmap 2030 aims to achieve zero preventable maternal and newborn deaths. Explore its key features, major interventions, and the target of reducing the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to below 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030. The strategy aims to reduce maternal mortality ratio and provide maternal and newborn healthcare. It has a lot of significance such as accelerating SDG targets, enforcing healthcare services, bridging rural urban healthcare gaps and embedding institutional transparency. The Continuum of Care under SUMAN Roadmap 2030 integrates maternal and newborn health through family planning, nutrition and spreading education.