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NEWS ALERTS | Unsatisfactory decline in child mortality: SRS 2012
Unsatisfactory decline in child mortality: SRS 2012

Unsatisfactory decline in child mortality: SRS 2012

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published Published on Feb 12, 2014   modified Modified on May 23, 2016

The more things change, the more they remain the same. Probably, this can be said about the ‘Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2012', which carries the latest figures on the social sector by far. The report has provided some interesting trends in child mortality indicators for India and its bigger states during 2012 (see the links below). It says that states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, which have consistently had a better track-record in human development, continue to outperform the laggard states like Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Odisha*.

 

Although international comparisons is not provided by the SRS 2012 report, the UNICEF report entitled Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed -Progress Report 2013 previously found out that as compared to IMR** of 44 in India, IMR globally was 35 (deaths per 1000 live births).

Despite the fall in infant mortality rate (IMR) from 55 in 2007 to 42 in 2012, one in every 24 children at the national level (one in every 22 children in rural areas & one in every 36 children in urban areas) still die before reaching the first birthday.

(See the graph below for getting the declining trend in IMR between 1971 and 2012).

Chart 1

Source: SRS 2012

Among the bigger states, IMR varies from 12 in Kerala to 56 in Madhya Pradesh. While IMR in rural India has declined from 61 in 2007 to 46 in 2012, in urban areas it has fallen from 37 in 2007 to 28 in 2012, displaying the huge rural-urban divide. A number of studies conducted in the past shows that among other things, IMR is determined by access to nutrition and its knowledge, access to sanitation & safe drinking water, gender equality within households, access to health services and immunization coverage (see the links below). Given India's poor performance in all these, combating child mortality is still a huge task ahead.

As per the historical trend, IMR is likely to reach 40 deaths per 1000 live births by 2015, missing the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of 27 deaths per 1000 live births with a considerable margin (also called MDG 4), depicts ‘MDG India Country Report 2014' of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI)..

The SRS 2012 data reveals that female infants experienced a higher mortality than male infants in all states. It has been observed that at the national level, 13.0 per cent of total deaths during 2012 are of infants (<1 year) whereas 51.4 percent of the deaths pertain to persons aged 60 years and above. Toddlers (1-4 years) accounts for 2.8 percent of total deaths. The percentage of infant deaths to total deaths varies from a low 2.5 percent in Kerala to a high of 19.2 percent in Rajasthan.

Chart 2

India presently exhibits an under-five mortality rate (U5MR)# of 52, and it varies from 58 in rural areas to 32 in urban areas. Among the bigger states, it varies from 13 in Kerala to 75 in Assam. Given the historical trend, the U5MR is likely to reach 49 deaths per 1000 live births by 2015, missing the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of 42 deaths per 1000 live births by 7 percentage points (see the graph above). However, states of Kerala (13), Tamil Nadu (24), Maharashtra (28), Delhi (28), Punjab (34), Karnataka (37) and West Bengal (38) have already achieved the national level MDG target of U5MR, notes the 2014 MoSPI report on MDGs.

Note:

* SRS Bulletin October 2012,

SRS Bulletin September 2013


** IMR: Probability of dying between birth and exactly 1 year of age, expressed per 1,000 live births

# U5MR: Probability of dying between birth and exactly five years of age, expressed per 1,000 live births

 

References:

Figures at a glance, SRS 2012

Executive Summary, SRS 2012

Estimate of Mortality Indicators, SRS 2012

Decline in Rates of Maternal and Infant Mortality, Press Information Bureau, 11 February, 2014

Millennium Development Goals: India Country Report 2014 

India Human Development Report 2011: Towards Social Inclusion, Institute of Applied Manpower Research, Planning Commission, GoI,

Missing toilets: Is India's sanitation drive ‘In Deep Shit'?

APR (2013): Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed Progress Report 2013,

Census (2011): Houselisting and Housing Census Data Highlights

NFHS-3 (2005-06): Factsheet

Ram, Usha, Prabhat Jha et al (2013): ‘Neonatal, 1-59 month, and under-5 mortality in 597 Indian districts, 2001 to 2012: Estimates from National Demographic and Mortality Surveys', The Lancet Global Health, Volume 1, Issue 4, 19 September.

http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/langlo/PIIS221
4109X13700731.pdf

UNESCO (2013): Education Transforms Lives, UNESCO

UNFPA (2012): The State of World Population 2012: By Choice, Not by Chance, Family Planning, Human Rights and Development, UNFPA, http://www.unfpa.org/public/home/publications/pid/12511

UNICEF (2012): Progress for Children: A Report Card on Adolescents, Number 10, April, 2012.

Water Aid (2011): ‘Off-track, Off-target:Why Investment in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene is Not Reaching Those Who Need it Most' ,
http://www.wateraid.org/~/media/Publications/water-sanitat
ion-hygiene-investment.pdf

WHO/UNICEF (2012): Joint Monitoring Report : Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation,
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/20
12/jmp2012.pdf

____(2012): Estimates of National Immunization Coverage,
http://www.childinfo.org/files/immunization_summary_2012_en.pdf

Malnutrition Poses a Real Challenge, The New Indian Express, 30 January, 2014, http://www.im4change.org/latest-news-updates/malnutrition-
poses-a-real-challenge-24080.html

Gujarat Behind National Average in Fall in Maternal Mortality Rate, Outlook, 6 January, 2014, http://www.im4change.org/latest-news-updates/gujarat-behin
d-national-average-in-fall-in-maternal-mortality-rate-2387
1.html

Spears, Dean (2013): ‘Coming up short in India ‘ by , LiveMint July 4.
http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/xj6CrTVwZZwZg0EYRQEc0M/Com
ing-up-short-in-India.html

Image Courtesy: UNICEF, http://www.unicef.org/india/reallives_7978.htm



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