In a significant achievement, Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of India has declined by 10 points as per the Special Bulletin on MMR released by the Registrar General of India. The ratio has declined from 113 in 2016-18 to 103 in 2017-19 (8.8 % decline).
The country has been witnessing a progressive reduction in MMR from 130 in 2014-2016, 122 in 2015-17, 113 in 2016-18, and to 103 in 2017-19. With this persistent decline, India is on the verge of achieving National Health Policy (NHP) target of 100/lakh live births by 2020 and certainly on track to achieve the SDG target of 70/ lakh live births by 2030.
The number of states which have achieved the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target has now risen from 5 to 7 viz. Kerala (30), Maharashtra (38), Telangana (56), Tamil Nadu (58), Andhra Pradesh (58), Jharkhand (61), and Gujarat (70). There are now nine (9) States that have achieved the target of MMR set by the NHP which include the above 7 and the States of Karnataka (83) and Haryana (96).
Five states [Uttarakhand (101), West Bengal (109), Punjab (114), Bihar (130), Odisha (136) and Rajasthan (141)] have MMR in between 100-150, while for 4 states namely, Chhattisgarh (160), Madhya Pradesh (163), Uttar Pradesh (167) and Assam (205) have MMR above 150.
Encouraging achievement has been reported by Uttar Pradesh [which has shown the maximum decline of 30 points], Rajasthan (23 points), Bihar (19 points), Punjab (15 points) and Odisha (14 points).
Remarkably, three states (Kerala, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh) have shown more than 15% decline in MMR, while 6 states namely, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Bihar, Punjab, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh have shown a decline between 10-15%. Four states viz. Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha and Karnataka witnessed a decline between 5-10%.
Four states namely West Bengal, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh have shown an increase in MMR and hence will need to reappraise their strategy and intensify their efforts to accelerate the MMR decline to achieve the SDG target.
It is pertinent to point that strategic investments under National Health Mission (NHM) through various schemes have been consistently yielding increasing dividends.
