According to a special report provided by the Registrar General of India, India’s Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has decreased by ten points. It decreased from 113 to 103 in 2016-18. (8.8 percent decline). The country has seen a gradual decline in the MMR, from 130 in 2014-2016 to 122 in 2015-17, 113 in 2016-18, and 103 in 2017-19, according to a press statement issued Monday.
With this continued drop, India was on pace to meet the National Health Policy (NHP) target of 100/lakh live births by 2020 and was almost certain to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of 70/ lakh live births by 2030, it observed.
9 States have met Maternal Mortality Rate objective
The number of states meeting the SDG objective has increased from five to seven: Kerala (30), Maharashtra (38), Telangana (56), Tamil Nadu (58), Andhra Pradesh (58), Jharkhand (61), and Gujarat (70). There are currently nine states that have met the NHP’s MMR objective, including the seven mentioned above, as well as Karnataka (83) and Haryana (96).
Uttarakhand (101), West Bengal (109), Punjab (114), Bihar (130), Odisha (136), and Rajasthan (141) all have an MMR of between 100 and 150, whereas Chhattisgarh (160), Madhya Pradesh (163), Uttar Pradesh (167), and Assam (205) all have an MMR of greater than 150.
The accomplishment of U.P.
The announcement added that encouraging achievements were reported by Uttar Pradesh — which experienced the greatest reduction of 30 points — Rajasthan (23 points), Bihar (19 points), Punjab (15 points), and Odisha (14 points).
Kerala, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh all experienced a fall in the MMR of more than 15%, while Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Bihar, Punjab, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh all experienced a decline of between 10-15%. Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, and Karnataka all had declines of between 5% and 10%.
West Bengal, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Chhattisgarh have all seen an increase in the MMR and so need to rethink their approach and enhance efforts to accelerate the drop of the MMR in order to meet the SDG target, it added.