Infant Mortality Rate: Outrage over deaths of infants in Gujarat & Rajasthan

Infant Mortality Rate: Outrage over deaths of infants in Gujarat & Rajasthan

Part of: GS Prelims – Health Statistics and GS-II- Health

In News

• The Infant mortality rate (IMR) is the number of deaths per 1,000live births of children under one year of age. Currently (2017) India’s IMR stands at 33 per 1,000 live births
• India has an annual birth cohort of approximately 26 million
• Every day, there is an estimated death of 2,350 babies aged less than one year(annually 8.5 lakh deaths)
• According to the National Family Health Survey-4, only 78.9% births in India happen in a facility. This means 21.1% or about 54 lakh births in a year still happen outside of a facility where hygiene levels are low and/or without the help of a trained health worker.

Value Additions

• India Newborn Action Plan (INAP) was launched in 2014 to make concerted efforts towards attainment of the goals of “Single Digit Neonatal Mortality Rate” and “Single Digit Still birth Rate,”
• Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) and Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK) was started to promote institutional deliveries so as to reduce IMR