Decline in maternal, child mortality rate: Government

New Delhi: India has demonstrated a reduction in key health indicators like maternal mortality rate, which declined much faster as compared to global rate, the government said today.

"The country has demonstrated reduction in key health indicators such as IMR, MMR, Under 5 Mortality Rate. Further, the annual average pace of decline in MMR (for the period 1990 to 2013) was much faster in India (4.5 per cent) as compared to global rate (2.6 per cent)," Minister of State for Health Faggan Singh Kulaste said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. He said additionally, mortality due to various diseases has reduced too.

The Global Burden of Disease (2015) reports a decrease in mortality (between the years 2005 and 2015) on account of lower respiratory infections (by 22.6 per ecnt), diarrhoeal diseases (by 31.7 per cent), tuberculosis (by 30.7 per cent), neonatal preterm birth (by 39.5 per cent), neonatal encephalopathy (by 31 per cent) and road injuries (by 2.7 per cent), he said.

He said that as per the Global Burden of Disease report for India, the deaths due to self-harm for the period 2005 to 2015 have declined by 3.9 per cent. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) National Health Mission (NHM), has two sub-missions - the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the National Urban Health Mission
(NUHM). He said that while NRHM was launched in April 2005, launch of NUHM was approved by the Cabinet on May 1, 2013.

"NHM envisages achievement of universal access to equitable, affordable and quality healthcare services that are accountable and responsive to people's needs. "The main programmatic components include Health System strengthening in rural and urban areas, Reproductive-Maternal-Neonatal-Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) interventions and control of Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases," he said.