In accordance with the “Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India 2016-18”, released by the Office of the Registrar General’s Sample Registration System (SRS), the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India has declined to 113 in 2016-18 from 122 in 2015-17 and 130 in 2014-2016 and almost 100 deaths lesser than in the period of 2007-2009.
- States have been categorized into three groups namely, Empowered Action Group (EAG) States, Southern States and Other States during the survey.
- The southern States registered a lower MMR — Andhra Pradesh (65), Telangana (63), Karnataka (92), Kerala (43) and Tamil Nadu (60) as compared to states of Assam & EAG viz. Assam (215), Bihar (149), Madhya Pradesh (173), Chhattisgarh (159), Odisha (150), Rajasthan (164), Uttar Pradesh (197), Uttarakhand (99) and Jharkhand (71).
- In the category of other states Punjab has a maximum MMR of 129.
Points to be Noted:
-The target of United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of 3.1 is to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 1,00,000 live births.
-The maximum proportion of maternal deaths during 2016-18 is 33% in the age group of 20-24.
Important Terms:
Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR): It is defined as the proportion of maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births, reported under the SRS.
Maternal Mortality Rate: This is calculated as maternal deaths to women in the ages 15-49 per lakh of women in that age group, reported under SRS.
Maternal Death: As per World Health Organization (WHO), maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management.
Sample Registration System (SRS): It is India’s largest demographic sample surveys that among other indicators provide direct estimates of maternal mortality through a nationally representative sample.
About Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India (ORGI):
The Office of the Registrar General, India works under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Registrar General & Census Commissioner– Dr. Vivek Joshi
Recent Related News:
On May 10, 2020, ORGI released its SRS bulletin based which has presented the estimates of Birth Rate, Death Rate, and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) for the year 2018 for India and its States/UTs.
- As per that, India’s infant mortality rate (IMR) has improved very marginally from 33 per 1,000 live births in 2017 to 32 in 2018.
- The death rate of India has witnessed a significant decline over the last four decades from 14.9 in 1971 to 6.2 in 2018.
- There has been about an 11% decline in birth rate in the last decade, from 22.5 in 2009 to 20.0 in 2018.
