MMR, IMR higher, sterilisation down in Assam

The maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) in Assam continues to be higher than the all-India level over the last decade, state Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the state legislative assembly on Tuesday.

The states MMR for 2014-16 was 237/1,00,000 live births against the all-India figure of 130, Sarma said in reply to a starred question.

The states MMR for 2010-12 was 328 and for 2011-13 was 300, against the all-India figures of 178 and 167 for those periods.

In case of IMR also, in 2017 for the state the number was 44/1,000 live births, whereas it was 33 at all-India level, he said.

The under-5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) of 1,000 live births is also higher for the state as compared to the all-India figure. It was 48 for Assam in 2017 against 37 being the all-India number.

In response to a written question, the minister said the rate of male sterilisation in Assam has been rapidly decreasing during the last three years.

It has been on a declining trend with 4203 recorded in 2016-17, 2648 in 2017-18 and 1663 2018-19.

The number of male sterilization carried out in the state in 2014-15 was 4351, which had increased to 5266 the next year, Sarma said in response to a written question.

The caste-wise or religion-wise data of male sterilization figures are not available, he added.