Infant mortality rate higher in State than national rate

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha along with Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest infant mortality despite national Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) which come down to 47 from 50 deaths per 1,000 live births over the last one year, as per the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin of December 2011 released by the Registrar General of India (RGI) at New Delhi on Wednesday.

It is noted that IMR has dropped further by 3 points from last year and the IMR for rural areas has dropped by 4 points from 55 to 51 infant deaths per 1000 live births while the urban rate now stands at 31 from the previous 34 per 1000 live births, the bulletin revealed.
According to the bulletin, Goa has the lowest IMR of 10 infant deaths followed by Kerala with 13 infant deaths per 1,000 live births against 12 per 1,000 in January 2011 figures whereas, Madhya Pradesh has the highest IMR of 62 infant deaths per 1,000, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Odisha of 61 per 1,000 live births. Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Meghalaya still have IMRs more than the national average of 47, it added.
The SRS is a large-scale demographic survey for providing reliable annual estimates of birth rate, death rate and other fertility and mortality indicators at the national and sub-national levels through field investigation and enumeration on a yearly basis.