The National Eclampsia Registry project is being managed through ICOG an academic outfit of the Federation of obstetrics and gynaecological societies of India (FOGSI). This is a FOGSI - ICOG initiative.
The project is aimed at understanding the prevalence of eclampsia --- pregnancy induced hypertension --- among women in India.
"The aim is to eradicate eclampsia and the national registry is the first step towards it. With the setting up of the registry, we would be able to identify the incidence, understand the prevalent practices and evolve standard practice protocols," said gynaecologist Sanjay Gupte, who is the national coordinator of the registry.
Abnormal rise in blood pressure
during pregnancy can eventually lead to convulsions that is called eclampsia.
"This condition makes the woman morbid and may also kill her. It is
definitely preventable border, but we need to know the prevalence of this condition
so that we can go for the standardisation of treatment practices,"said
Gupte.
The maternal
mortality rate of India is more than 400 in 1,00,000 (1 lakh) of pregnancy
cases, which is serious, and eclampsia is the prime reason, explained Gupte.
Even in a country like Sri-Lanka , the rate of mortality due to eclampsia is
just 24 in one lakh cases. And in western countries, it doesn't exceed 10,
he added.
The registry will collect data on
eclampsia cases with the help of FOGSI's 250 branches and 25,000
gynaecologist members spread all over the country, including the
hinterlands.
"We have co-ordinators working at
village, district and state levels. Wherever a case of eclampsia is found,
the information case would be immediately sent to the registry by these co-ordinators
," Gupte said. This details that includes factors like age, region, diet and
other medical history of the woman, would be uploaded on a customised
software based at the registry. This information would be analysed and
conclusions would be drawn at end of every month, he added.
Some of the vital conclusions such
as which age group is mostly vulnerable to eclampsia, what is the dietary
structure or nutrition level of a woman who suffers from it and which region
of the country has larger incidence of it would then be possible to
establish, Gupte said. This would eventually pave the way to the effective
management of eclampsia and help in reducing its incidence and finally
eradicating it, he added.
The registry will also undertake
workshops for health-care providers all over the country as well as public
awareness programmes. This will help in solving the problem while it is
being identified, Gupte said.
"It is imperative that all of us
take this up as an important cause towards increasing the safety of mothers
by actively participating in the registry in whichever capacity possible.
Even the public can be a part of this endeavour," said Gupte.
Drawing attention to the
significance of the national registry of eclampsia' , gynaecologist Girija
Waugh, assistant national co-ordinator of the registry, said that there was
no specific reason for the registry being launched in the city. "It might
have been launched some other city as well. What we must understand is the
national significance of this registry. It encompasses the entire country in
its ambit," said Waugh.
Those who wish to participate in the
work of the national registry may log on to the website
www.abcofobg.com/Eclampsia and register themselves there.
The Indian scenario
70 per cent of the Indian woman
marry before the age of 19 years. That is one of the reasons why India is
the huge contributor to the world quantum of eclampsia and also maternal
mortality.
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