Infant, maternal mortality drop, but disparity remains

The survey points out that the rural-urban divide is highest in Assam for infant mortality rate

Even as infant and maternal mortality rates dropped significantly in nine states, which account for half the country’s population, the disparity between these rates in urban and rural areas as well as between different states hasn’t decreased, according to the Annual Health Survey (2012-13) released by the Office of Registrar General & Census Commissioner.

These nine states are Jharkhand, Uttrakhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Assam, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Uttar Pradesh (UP).

The survey says for infant mortality, the rural-urban divide is the highest in Assam—while infant mortality in rural areas is 59, it is 31 in urban regions. “In the baseline, too, Assam recorded the highest rural-urban divide, with 64 and 35 for rural and urban areas, respectively,” the survey said.

The gap between the birth rates in urban and rural areas was the highest in UP and MP.

“The rural-urban divide (for crude birth rate or birth rate every 1,000 persons a year) is highest in UP and MP—UP 26.4 rural & 19.6 urban, and MP 26.7 & 19.8, respectively. In the baseline, too, MP recorded the highest rural-urban divide with 27.3 and 20.4 for rural and urban regions, respectively,” the survey said.

In all the nine states mentioned earlier, maternal mortality ranged between 165 and 391 deaths/100,000 live births. The survey said for most of these states, these were much higher than the national average of 178. The millennium development goal in this regard is 109.

The national average for infant mortality rate is 42 deaths, while the millennium development goal for this is 29. At 36 deaths/1,000 live births, Jharkhand recorded the lowest infant mortality rate, while at 68, and UP had the highest. In 2012-13, infant mortality fell in 246 districts, compared to the previous year. While it increased in 22 districts, 16 districts saw no change, according to the survey.

Maternal mortality was the lowest in Uttarakhand (165 deaths/100,000 live births). Rajasthan saw the steepest fall compared to the baseline year (it fell from 331 at that time to 208 in 2012-13). For 36 per cent of the districts, the sex ratio at birth is less than 900 females/1,000 males, while in the baseline year, it was 44 per cent. At 22, Assam recorded the highest rise in sex ratio at birth, while Madhya Pradesh recorded the least rise (one).

The crude birth rate across 284 districts ranged between 15 and 39.9, while in the baseline year, it ranged between 14.7 and 40.9.