It is a very sad situation when a nation cannot save its infant who is born to deserve a full life. The status of India is grim if we compare it with advanced countries. Infant mortality rate or IMR is number of deaths of infants within one year per thousand. The present average IMR of India as per Govt data released by SRS bulletin recently for latest 2020 is 28. The lowest IMR of 2 is in Japan, Sweden and in many more countries. To be fair to India we should keep in mind that in the year 1971 (when I was in University) IMR was staggering 129 which has now come down to 28.
What is very painful is the fact that Madhya Pradesh is at the rock bottom in India with IMR 43. Although Madhya Pradesh has done well in sectors like agriculture and irrigation, its social indices are a matter of grave concern. The districts and areas within them of high infant ( and also maternal) mortality are well known, but the callous government machinery at microlevel has failed to deliver in many health indicators. There is absolutely no dearth of funds and it is only the lackadaisical management at block and village levels and very poor supervision which are responsible for the present state of affairs. It is worth mentioning here that even though the data from Bihar is not very reliable yet it is creditable that in the last 10 years Bihar has reduced its IMR from 48 to 27. I hope with the better governance in next one decade, things will improve drastically in India including Madhya Pradesh.
Mere knowledge of IMR is insufficient for planning and execution of an appropriate intervention strategy. It is also important to understand the various causes of death. Based on the available information and a review of the literature, it is clear that 50% of the deaths in infancy occurred during the neonatal period. The common preventable causes of death in infancy identified are acute respiratory infections, acute diarrheal disease, low birth weight, protein energy malnutrition, tetanus neonatorum, and communicable diseases like measles, whooping cough, and typhoid. The high IMR can be reduced by general measures which can only be recommended as medium-term and longterm plans. These include an increase in the gross national product and female literacy, a decreasing birthrate, and an increasing capita food intake.
Despite having innumerable challenges before it, India has potential now to reduce drastically nodus of infant and maternal mortality.
