Awareness regarding Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK) among mothers: a community based cross-sectional study in rural area of Raipur district, Chhattisgarh
Background: In order to increase accessibility of health care services for pregnant women and sick infants and to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure, Ministry of Health and Family welfare, Government of India has launched a nationwide initiative- Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram on June 01, 2011. The objective of the study was to find out the awareness level about the entitlements of JSSK among mothers with child less than one year and its association with different socio-demographic variables.Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in rural block of Raipur district, Chhattisgarh, India, among 352 mothers having child less than one year using multistage random sampling using predesigned, pretested proforma from July 2015 to June 2016. Chi-square test was applied to find out the association between awareness level and different socio-demographic variables. P <0.05 was considered significant.Results: Among 352 mothers, good awareness were found in only 207 mothers (58.80%). Maximum awareness (89.20%) regarding entitlements among mothers was seen for free transport services from home to health institution followed by the drop back transport facility from hospital to home (85.22%). None of the mothers know about free diagnostic services for mothers and for sick infants and for free provision of blood for sick infants. Increasing parity was significantly associated with good awareness regarding JSSK.Conclusions: Level of awareness regarding JSSK entitlements for pregnant mothers and sick infants was found to be low. Extensive IEC needed to further increase the awareness regarding JSSK entitlements to increase utilization among beneficiaries.