Nearly 44,000 women die every year while giving birth

Assam has the highest Maternal Mortality Rate of 300 per one lakh live births, followed by UP and Uttarakhand of 285

Nearly 44,000 women die every year while giving birth in the country, with Assam having the highest Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), 300 per one lakh live births, government informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

"The latest available data on MMR is for the period 2011-13, which is 167 per 1,00,000 live births. As per this, it is estimated that approximately 44,000 women die during delivery every year," Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda said in a written response to a question.

The Report of Registrar General of India-Sample Registration System captures data on MMR periodically and not annually, he said.

Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand stand second with MMR of 285, followed by Rajasthan (244), Odisha (222), Madhya Pradesh (221), Chhattisgarh (221), Bihar (208), Jharkhand (208) and Punjab (141), Nadda said.

To another question, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel said, as per the Sample Registration System, the country has shown decline in Infant Mortality Rate from 40 per 1,000 lives in 2013 to 39 in 2014.

On how many people have died due to air pollution, Patel said such data is not maintained centrally. However, in 2012, 4,155 people died due to acute respiratory infection, 3,513 in 2013 and 2,729 in 2014.

Lung cancer accounts for 15.6 per cent of all cancer deaths in males in the country and is the leading cause of death. Cervical and breast cancer account for 20 per cent and 17.4 per cent of all female cancer deaths respectively, Nadda said.

According to the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), the estimated incidences of cancer in 2016 are 14.5 lakh and is likely to go up to 17.3 lakh by 2020, he added.