Goals and objectives

The charitable objective of Proshanti is:

Relieving sickness and promoting and preserving good health, in particular but not exclusively,

of people living in the Juri region of Bangladesh by supporting

and establishing a healthy living centre or centres.

After subsequent visits to Juri and discussions with local clinicians, officials and politicians, Proshanti decided firstly to focus on improving healthcare related to pregnancy and childbirth for poor and vulnerable families.  A further goal therefore is:

Reducing the maternal mortality rate (MMR) and the infant mortality rate (IMR)

in Juri sub district by improving the quality of related health services.

In Sylhet region only 47% of poor women receive any antenatal care and only 11% have a skilled attendant at child delivery. Bangladesh is committed to progressively reaching the target of reducing maternal mortality rates by 2015 to 143 deaths per 100,000 live births in line with the UN MDG (Millennium Development Goals). But with maternal mortality rate at 194 per 100,000 live births and the neonatal mortality rate at 32 per 1000 live births, Bangladesh is unlikely to reach this goal.

The poorest people have very little access to healthcare. Existing government and NGO health services are under resourced, under staffed and do not have up-to-date knowledge and skills of antenatal care. Transport problems and the distribution system of medicines is also a problem and people have little health awareness or trust in the existing health services. While the number of women receiving at least one antenatal care visit is steadily increasing, few women receive the government recommended minimum of four visits.