Maharashtra has achieved the UN’s millennium development goal for maternal mortality rate (MMR), and with six years to spare.
Here is news to cheer not just women, but also the entire state.
Maharashtra has achieved the UN’s millennium development goal for maternal mortality rate (MMR), and with six years to spare. Maharashtra’s MMR of 104 (per 1,00,000 live births) is bettered only by Kerala (81) and Tamil Nadu (97).
According to the UN millennium development goal (MDG), countries must reduce MMR to 109 by 2015. India’s MMR has also come down by 42 points — 212 in 2007-09 from 254 in 2004-06.
Dr DK Dakhure, director of health services, Maharashtra, said, “We have been aggressively working on reducing the MMR. For this we had given special training to all our state- and district-level officers.”
Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have also recorded low infant mortality rates (IMR), according to the sample registration system figures released by the registrar general of India on Thursday.
Maharashtra’s IMR of 31 is among the lowest in the country and close to the UN’s 2015 target of 28. And the under-5 mortality rate (36) is lower than the UN target (42). The country’s IMR has come down to 50 in 2009 from 53 in 2008 and under-5 MR has declined by five points — 64 in 2009 from 69 in 2008.
According to census commissioner C Chandramouli, India’s progress on this front is vital for the overall reduction in the world as every fifth woman dying due to maternity causes is an Indian, and every sixth death in India pertains to an infant. Despite improved numbers, the progress is slow and it seems India may miss the deadline of reaching the target by 2015.
In India more female infants die as compared to male. Madhya Pradesh (67) has the highest IMR, while Kerala (12) has the lowest. The highest U5MR was reported in Madhya Pradesh (89) and lowest in Kerala (14).
The country’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) remained at 2.6 during 2008 and 2009. TFR measures the average number of children that a woman would bear in her lifetime at the current age-specific fertility rates.
Bihar had the highest TFR (3.9), while Kerala and Tamil Nadu had the lowest (1.7). The TFR for Maharashtra was 1.9, indicating that family planning measures have worked well in the state.
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