India’s infant mortality rate has seen a sharp decline in the last few years. It has declined from 50 to 30 between 2009 and 2019, according to data released by the sample registration system (SRS).
However, the data showed that the gains made in the last five years have slowed down drastically. We still are worse than Bangladesh’s and Nepal’s mortality rate which is at 26, but better than Pakistan’s at 56.
The data also reveals that the is a huge difference among different states in terms of mortality. Kerala has a commendable IMR equal to the US, on the other hand, Madhya Pradesh is faring worse than Yemen or Sudan, according to a report by The Times of India.
There have been great improvements in all the states between 2009 to 2014 where the IMR went down to 11 points from 50 to 39. However, it slowed down in the past five years.
The states which have shown remarkable development are Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal with Kerala having the least IMR. Similarly, the states that have slowed down are Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.
IMR is looked at as an indicator of the overall health scenario of the country. It is defined as the number of babies less than a year old who die for every thousand births.
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(Published 26 October 2021, 10:27 IST)
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