Govt steps led to dip in maternal, infant mortality rates: MoS in Parliament

India has made huge progress in improving maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) and is well on track to meet global targets, Union minister of state for health Anupriya Patel said

India has made huge progress in improving maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) and is well on track to meet global targets, Union minister of state for health Anupriya Patel said in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour on Friday.

Union minister of state for health and family welfare Anupriya Patel said that the significant improvement in numbers was a result of comprehensive measures taken by the government of India under its National Health Mission (NHM). (ANI)

“India has better progress if one compares it with the overall global progress made in maternal and infant mortality rate — MMR and IMR. If one looks at the global numbers, while the global rate of decline for MMR in the past 30 years — between 1990 and 2020 — has been 42%, the decline has been 83% for India. In addition, the global rate of decline for infant mortality in the same period has been 55%, and for India, the decline has been 69%,” she said.

Per government data, India’s IMR declined from 39 per 1000 live births in 2013 to 28 per 1000 live births in 2020, and MMR dropped from 167 per lakh live births in 2014 to 97 per lakh live births in 2020.

The minister said that the significant improvement in numbers was a result of comprehensive measures taken by the government of India under its National Health Mission (NHM).

“Under the mission, we (Union ministry of health and family welfare) offer help to state governments and Union territory administration in the form of financial and technical support. To improve health outcomes of women and children is the key focus of the government programme for which there are multiple programmes being run by the government of India such as Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK), Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan, and several other such initiatives,” Patel said.

The Janani Suraksha Yojana is a centrally-sponsored programme that aims to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates. The Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram is a central government-run programme that provides free and cashless health services to pregnant women and sick newborns. The Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan was launched to provide fixed-day assured, comprehensive and quality antenatal care to all pregnant women (in 2nd and 3rd trimester) on the 9th of every month.

Union health minister, JP Nadda, in a written response in Lok Sabha, also detailed various other schemes that the Centre is running for maternal and child care and to provide nutrition support, including in remote and tribal dominated areas. The schemes include Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY); Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB); Mission Poshan 2.0; and Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHSND).

The PMMVY was implemented to provide cash incentive for partial compensation for the wage loss so that women can take adequate rest before and after delivery, and to improve the health seeking behaviour amongst the pregnant women and lactating mothers. The AMB was implemented to reduce anaemia among six beneficiaries age group - children (6-59 months), children (5-9 years), adolescents (10-19 years), pregnant and lactating women and women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) in life cycle approach through implementation of six interventions via robust institutional mechanism. The VHSND are observed for provision of maternal and child health services and creating awareness on maternal and child-care including nutrition in convergence with women and child development ministry. And, under Mission Poshan 2.0, supplementary nutrition is provided to children (6 months to 6 years), pregnant women, lactating mothers, and adolescent girls.

“The results of our multi-pronged interventions are for all to see, especially in the form of decline in MMR, IMR and under-5 mortality,” said Nadda.

As part of technical and financial support under NHM, the centre helps in recruitment of health care professionals in rural areas and to bridge the infrastructure gaps in rural healthcare facilities based on the proposals received in the form of programme implementation plans.

“Mobile out-reach health camps are taken to remote and hard-to-reach areas to trace and track pregnant women and offer them services under various government programmes. This also helps in identifying high-risk pregnancies which are brought under government care. All these measures have helped in bringing down the MMR and IMR numbers,” added Patel.