MUMBAI: For the first time, social scientists from Mumbai have mapped India’s maternal deaths to district-level precision, and found 70% of the 640 districts are “hot spots” reporting higher pregnancy-related deaths than the UN development goals.
Researchers from the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Deonar, analysed 61.98 million live births and 61,169 maternal deaths reported between 2017 and 2020, said a paper published in PLOS Global Public Health on Tuesday. (As Census 2011 data was used, only 640 districts were considered against 773 in 2022).
Maternal mortality rate refers to deaths due to complications from childbirth or pregnancy per 1 lakh live births. The MMR under UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030 is 70.
The IIPS study found Arunachal Pradesh – and not Assam as per the usual government surveys – has the country’s highest MMR of 284, while Maharashtra reported the lowest (40). Five states have MMR greater than or equal to 210. Tirap in Arunachal has the highest MMR, while Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh has the lowest.
“Overall, MMR in 24 states with 450 districts is over UN’s SDG of 70 deaths,” said the paper. The MMR in eight states and three Union territories is in the 140-209 range, and in the 70-139 range in 11 states. “A startling finding is the high MMR in progressive Punjab, and this could be due to unsafe sex-selective abortions leading to the death of women,” said the study’s lead author Dr Srinivas Goli.
“India’s MMR is falling at 4.5% annually but to achieve the SDG target, the drop rate should be 5.5%,” he said. India’s MMR story is often held up as a health success story. From 398 in 1997-98, MMR has dropped to 99 in 2020.
In India, MMR is tracked by the Sample Registration System (SRS) of the Office of the Registrar General of India, but this data covers major states and provides no district-level picture. “Districts are critical administrative units for micro-level policy and monitoring. Therefore, identification of ‘hot spots’ at the district-level is important,” said Dr Goli.
Along with researchers from the University of Western Australia and the University of Portsmouth (UK), Dr Goli tracked data from the health ministry’s Health Management Information System portal and cross-checked it with SRS data.
Researchers from the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Deonar, analysed 61.98 million live births and 61,169 maternal deaths reported between 2017 and 2020, said a paper published in PLOS Global Public Health on Tuesday. (As Census 2011 data was used, only 640 districts were considered against 773 in 2022).
Maternal mortality rate refers to deaths due to complications from childbirth or pregnancy per 1 lakh live births. The MMR under UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030 is 70.
The IIPS study found Arunachal Pradesh – and not Assam as per the usual government surveys – has the country’s highest MMR of 284, while Maharashtra reported the lowest (40). Five states have MMR greater than or equal to 210. Tirap in Arunachal has the highest MMR, while Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh has the lowest.
“Overall, MMR in 24 states with 450 districts is over UN’s SDG of 70 deaths,” said the paper. The MMR in eight states and three Union territories is in the 140-209 range, and in the 70-139 range in 11 states. “A startling finding is the high MMR in progressive Punjab, and this could be due to unsafe sex-selective abortions leading to the death of women,” said the study’s lead author Dr Srinivas Goli.
“India’s MMR is falling at 4.5% annually but to achieve the SDG target, the drop rate should be 5.5%,” he said. India’s MMR story is often held up as a health success story. From 398 in 1997-98, MMR has dropped to 99 in 2020.
In India, MMR is tracked by the Sample Registration System (SRS) of the Office of the Registrar General of India, but this data covers major states and provides no district-level picture. “Districts are critical administrative units for micro-level policy and monitoring. Therefore, identification of ‘hot spots’ at the district-level is important,” said Dr Goli.
Along with researchers from the University of Western Australia and the University of Portsmouth (UK), Dr Goli tracked data from the health ministry’s Health Management Information System portal and cross-checked it with SRS data.