India, Dec. 19 -- In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Maharashtra public health department will launch the "skill mix" programme from next week across district hospitals, rural hospitals and sub-district hospitals in Pune, Satara and Solapur districts. The programme aims to reduce child and maternal mortality and morbidity by ensuring timely medical and surgical care at public health facilities, said officials on Thursday.

The initiative is the brainchild of Dr Bhagwan Pawar, deputy director of health services, Pune region. He said the programme would also benefit patients requiring surgical and specialised medical care for other conditions. "The decision was taken after a detailed gap analysis of first referral units (FRUs) and publi...