HYDERABAD: The overall Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) has come down in Telangana.
According to the latest
Sample Registration System (SRS) report for the period 2014-2016, the number of women dying during childbirth per 1 lakh live births in Telangana, stood at 81 and is inching closer to the 70 mark- a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) set for the country. It dropped to 81 from 92 during the period 2011-2013.
State health minister C Laxma Reddy on Sunday claimed that the improvement in Telangana was one of the key reasons for bringing down MMR of the entire country. “The Maternal Mortality Ratio of India has declined from 167 in 2011-2013 to 130 in 2014-2016. The decline has been most significant in EAG states (comprising Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand) and Assam from 246 to
188. Among the southern states, the decline has been from 93 to 77,” reads the SRS report.
SRS is the largest demographic sample survey in the country that among other indicators provide direct estimates of maternal mortality.
Attributing the decline in the state to the recently launched KCR kits scheme, health minister C Laxma Reddy tweeted, “Government of Telangana has also shown a remarkable decline in MMR and this contributed to the overall decline in MMR in India. The KCR Kit programme and strengthening of government hospitals have helped us achieve decline in infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate.”
Among the five southern states, Kerala (46),
Tamil Nadu (66) and Andhra Pradesh (74) registered a lower MMR when compared to Telangana. Only Karnataka among the southern states registered a higher MMR at 108. Overall in the southern states, MMR dropped by 17% and registered an average of 77.
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