Alive & Thrive India MIYCN and Private Health Care Sector

The private health care sector plays an important role in the Indian healthcare delivery
system. Private sector health services are accessed by most of the Indian population (around 70%) for maternity and child care services, predominantly at out-patient or OPD sites and for in-patient care. However, this sector is not well regulated and there are gaps in provision of evidence-based quality care. Professional medical associations can play an influential role in improving the practices of their individual members, especially those in private health facilities, by advocating for emerging best practices and undertaking continued skill development for evidence-based standard practices, such as integrating maternal nutrition interventions in antenatal care (ANC) , promoting, protecting and supporting optimal breastfeeding, and creating a mother and baby friendly environment. The goal of this survey was to assess the current maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (MICYN) knowledge and practices pertaining among the FOGSI and IAP members working in private health care establishments; understand the key bottlenecks/barriers and identify opportunities in adopting the evidence-based MIYCN guidelines in a private health care establishment. // Key Objectives: · To assess current knowledge pertaining to globally recommended evidence based MIYCN guidelines among health care providers in private health care establishments. · To understand the current practices and willingness to adopt the evidence based MIYCN guidelines in private health care establishments. · To understand systems and processes to strengthen evidence based MIYCN clinical practice in private health care establishments. · To identify the bottlenecks/challenges in adopting evidence-based MIYCN guidelines in private health care establishments.