Guwahati: Assam has witnessed a reduction in maternal and child mortality in the last year, according to the latest findings tabled at the Swasthya Manthan-6 organized by the Assam National Health Mission (NHM).
Maternal deaths have seen a significant decline of 34%, with the number of cases in 2022-23 (May February) being 448 compared to 680 in the corresponding period of 2021-22.
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Similarly, child deaths have gone down by 13.6%, with the number of cases in 2022-23 (May February) being 5,805, compared to 6,721 in the corresponding period of 2021-22.
The Assam NHM has credited the renewed strategy of probing deep into maternal and child death cases for remarkable improvement.
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Teams of four to five members from the health department are sent to the districts every month to identify any health department officials or ASHA workers responsible for such deaths.
The health department is also making great efforts for community mobilisation to prevent maternal deaths, as well as ensure timely hospitalisation of pregnant mothers.
The Registrar General of India’s ‘Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality’ for the period 2018 to 2020 released last year, noted that Assam recorded 195 deaths per lakh live births, a notable improvement from the previous figure of 215 in the period 2016 to 2018.
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The national MMR has also seen a significant decline from 130 in 2014-16 to 97 per lakh live births in 2018-20.
The infant mortality rate (IMR) in Assam was 36 deaths per 1,000 live births, as per the Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2020 published last year, slightly higher than the national average of 28.