Stockholm (Sweden): Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, met Mr. Goran Hagglund, Minister for Health and Social Affairs of Sweden here on Thursday.

During his meeting with the Swedish Minister, the ongoing programmes under the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) assistance in India were discussed.

With reference to developing inter-institutional collaboration between institutions in India and Sweden, for improving midwifery and maternal health services in India, Ramadoss thanked the Swedish Government for collaborating with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and the Academy of Nursing Studies (ANS) Hyderabad.

He also thanked the Government for collaborating with the White Ribbon Alliance of India (WRAI), the Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI) and the Society of Midwives of India (SOMI).

He appreciated the idea of imparting training, as a part of the institutional strengthening, to various officers from Central and State Governments dealing with maternal health and midwives from nursing schools and colleges in Sweden.

The Swedish partners are the Karolinska Institute and the Swedish Midwifery Association.