India accounts for almost 15 per cent of global maternal mortality burden with close to 45,000 deaths in 2015, though the numbers are on a steady decline in the last 25 years, says the latest report from UNICEF and WHO.
Two countries - Nigeria and India - are estimated to account for over 1/3rd of all maternal deaths worldwide in 2015. While the African nation accounts for about 58,000 maternal deaths (19 per cent), India recorded close to 45,000 maternal deaths (15 per cent) in 2015, according to a UN report released on Thursday.
The report on the trends of maternal mortality between 1990 and 2015 has been co-authored by the WHO, Unicef, World Bank and United Nations Population Division.
Though it notes India's progress in arresting the maternal mortality in the last 25 years, in absolute terms, India’s maternal mortality rate (MMR) burden is one of the highest in the world.
India’s MMR figures (per 1,00,000 live births) is on a steady decline since 1990 when it was 556. Subsequently, the MMR became 471 in 1995, 374 in 2000 and 215 in 2010, before touching 174 in 2015. Globally there is a 44 per cent drop in MMR since 1990.The NDA government identified 184 poorest districts to launch a focused campaign aiming to stop all infant and maternal deaths by 2030.
Published 12 November 2015, 19:22 IST