Maternal Mortality Ratio declines in India by 9 points, closer to SDG target: Health Ministry

New Delhi [India], July 17 (ANI): The Union Health Ministry on Friday informed that Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) India has declined by 9 points in one year as per the Special Bulletin on MMR released by the Registrar General of India.
Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister speaking on the success achieved by India on the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) said, "Maternal Mortality Ratio of India has declined by 9 points in one year as per the Special Bulletin on MMR released by the Registrar General of India. The ratio has declined from 122 in 2015-17 to 113 in 2016-18 (7.4 per cent decline)," adding that the country has been witnessing a progressive reduction in MMR from 167 in 2011-2013, 130 in 2014-2016, 122 in 2015-17, and to 113 in 2016-18.
"With this persistent decline, India is on track to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of 70 lakh live births by 2030 and the National Health Policy (NHP) target of 100 live births by 2020. The number of states which have achieved the SDG target has now risen from three to five viz. Kerala (43), Maharashtra (46) Tamil Nadu (60), Telangana (63), and Andhra Pradesh (65). There are eleven (11) States that have achieved the target of MMR set by the NHP which includes the above five and the states of Jharkhand (71), Gujarat (75), Haryana (91), Karnataka (92), West Bengal (98) and Uttarakhand (99)," the Union Minister said.
According to the health ministry's data, three states (Punjab (129), Bihar (149), Odisha (150)) have MMR in between 100-150, while for 5 states namely, Chhattisgarh (159), Rajasthan (164), Madhya Pradesh (173), Uttar Pradesh (197) and Assam (215), MMR is above 150.
He also stated that two states (Telangana and Maharashtra) have shown more than a 15 percent decline in MMR, while four states namely, Odisha, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat have shown a decline between 10-15%. Seven states viz. Karnataka, Assam, Jharkhand, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar have witnessed a decline between five to ten per cent.
Highlighting the efforts taken by the Union and the State/UT governments, Dr Vardhan said, "This success can be attributed to the intensive endeavor of the government in achieving impressive gains in institutional deliveries as well as focusing on quality and coverage of services under NHM through various schemes such as Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram, Janani Suraksha Yojana, etc." (ANI)