Maternal Mortality Ratio of India declines by 10 points

Published: 21st Mar, 2022

Context

The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of India has declined by 10 points as per a special bulletin released by the Registrar General of India.

About

About Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in India:

With this persistent decline, India was on the verge of achieving the National Health Policy (NHP) target of 100/lakh live births by 2020 and certainly on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of 70/ lakh live births by 2030.

Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in India
Year	MMR
2004-2006	254
2007-2009	212
2010-2012	178
2011-2013	167
2014-2016	130
2015-2017	122
2016-2018	113
2017-19	103

The States that have achieved the SDG target:
Kerala (30)
Maharashtra (38)
Telangana (56)
Tamil Nadu (58)
Andhra Pradesh (58)
Jharkhand (61)
Gujarat (70)
There are now nine States that have achieved the MMR target set by the NHP, which include the above seven and Karnataka (83) and Haryana (96).

About Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR):

Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) is defined as the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births due to pregnancy or termination of pregnancy, regardless of the site or duration of pregnancy.
The maternal mortality rate is used to represent the risk associated with pregnancy among women.

The Office of the Registrar General:

It is under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Apart from conducting the Population Census and monitoring the implementation of the Registration of Births and Deaths in the country, it has been giving estimates on fertility and mortality using the Sample Registration System (SRS).
SRS is the largest demographic sample surveyin the country that among other indicators provide direct estimates of maternal mortality through a nationally representative sample.
Verbal Autopsy (VA) instruments are administered for the deaths reported under the SRS on a regular basis to yield a cause-specific mortality profile in the country.

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