India Sees Significant Gains in Maternal and Child Health: SRS 2021 Report

India has shown remarkable progress in maternal and child health indicators between 2014 and 2021, according to a Health Ministry statement.

The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has declined by 37 points from 130 per lakh live births in 2014-16 to 93 in 2019-21, the statement mentioned, citing the Sample Registration System (SRS) Report 2021 released by the Registrar General of India (RGI) on Wednesday.

Similarly, the downward trend of child mortality indicators continued.

The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has dropped from 39 per 1000 live births in 2014 to 27 per 1000 live births in 2021.

The Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) has declined from 26 per 1000 live births in 2014 to 19 per 1000 live births in 2021. Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) has also improved, dropping from 45 in 2014 to 31 per 1000 live births in 2021.

The Sex Ratio at Birth also improved between 2014 and 2031, getting better from 899 to 913, respectively. Total Fertility Rate is consistent at 2.0 in 2021, which is a notable progress from 2.3 in 2014.

According to the SRS 2021 Report, eight states have already attained the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of MMR (less than or equal to 70 by 2030). Kerala (20), Maharashtra (38), Telangana (45), Andhra Pradesh (46), Tamil Nadu (49), Jharkhand (51), Gujarat (53), and Karnataka (63) are among the top performers.

The Ministry also said that 12 states and UT have already attained SDG target of U5MR (less than 25 by 2030): Kerala (8), Delhi (14), Tamil Nadu (14), Jammu & Kashmir (16), Maharashtra (16), West Bengal (20), Karnataka (21), Punjab (22), Telangana (22), Himachal Pradesh (23), Andhra Pradesh (24) and Gujarat (24).

Besides, six states and one UT have already attained the SDG target of NMR (less than 12 by 2030): Kerala (4), Delhi (8), Tamil Nadu (9), Maharashtra (11), Jammu & Kashmir (12) and Himachal Pradesh (12).

Further, India’s progress in the reduction of maternal and child mortality indicators has outpaced global averages, the Ministry said in its statement.

As per the current United Nations Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-agency Group (UN-MMEIG) Report 2000-2023, India’s MMR has reduced by 23 points from 2020 to 2023.

By this achievement, MMR of India has now declined by 86 per cent compared to the global reduction of 48 per cent over the past 33 years from 1990 to 2023, the statement said.

Significant achievement has been highlighted in the reduction of Child Mortality in India in the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN-IGME) Report 2024.

The UN-IGME report said India achieved a 78 per cent decline in the Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR), surpassing the global reduction of 61 per cent; 70 per cent decline in the Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) compared to 54% globally, and 71 per cent decline in the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) compared to 58 per cent globally, over the past 33 years from 1990 to 2023.