Displaying a classic slipup, Odisha has reverted below the 2005 rank in the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) nationally in 2016. Despite having an IMR of 44 against 75 in 2005, the State has finished 35th vis-à-vis 34th rank in 2005. In 2015, the State was ranked at 33rd position.
According to the Sample Registration System (SRS) released recently, the IMR in Odisha has dropped to 44 per 1,000 in 2016 from 46/1,000 in 2015. Still, the State was 2nd from the bottom after Madhya Pradesh.
Odisha’s IMR slipup despite reduction was attributed to better performances by other States. Though Odisha has effected a reduction of around 31 points in IMR in 2003 to 2016, it languished at 2nd from the bottom.
Significantly, when UP had the same IMR as that of Odisha in 2015, in 2016 UP improved the IMR to 43 and has edged past Odisha in the overall rankings.
Similarly, Assam with an IMR of 47 in 2015 has equalled to the IMR of Odisha in 2016. Moreover, Assam with an urban IMR of 22 per 1,000 has scored better than Odisha’s urban IMR of 30/1,000. Odisha along with UP have the highest urban IMR in the country while in rural IMR Odisha jointly holds the 2nd highest IMR of 46 per 1,000, along with UP and Assam.
According to data available with State Health department, when nearly 1,728 live births per day were reported in 2016-17, nearly 37 infants died every day in 2016-17 vis-a-vis of around 26 infant deaths per dayin 2015-16. Higher infant deaths were reported from districts like Bhadrak, Cuttack, Ganjam, Gajapati, Jharsuguda, Kendrapada, Khordha, Sambalpur, Nayagarh and Mayubhanj. Districts like Nayagarh, Sambalpur, Kendrapada and Bhadrak have seen sharp increases in infant mortalities in 2016-17.
Noteworthy is a whopping 67 per cent children in the State in the age-group of below five years were afflicted by diarrhoea in 2016-17, but infant deaths due to diarrhoea has been quite negligible.
However, around 33 per cent children under-5 in the State were afflicted with malaria in 2016-17. In this context, it is significant to mention that a high of 54 per cent infants in Odisha died due to reasons other than birth-related disorders like Low Birth Weight (LBW), asphyxia, sepsis and pneumonia in 2016-17.
LBW has been the single largest killer of infants in 2016-17 among birth-related disorders with a share of 17 per cent of total infant deaths. Asphyxia with 14 per cent share followed LBW.
These data reveal that nutrition-related disorders and communicable diseases are primarily responsible for high IMR in Odisha, which is nearly 10 points below the national average of 34 per 1,000 in 2016.
Also, as per the 2017 ICMR report on disease burden of States, when nearly 38 per cent of children’s deaths in Odisha in 2016 were due to neonatal disorders, maternal disorders like anaemia were the 2nd largest killer with a share of a whopping 28 per cent to the death burden.
NAGGING BURDEN Odisha, UP top in urban IMR State 2nd in rural IMR 38% deaths due to neonatal disorders Maternal disorders 2nd largest killer