Assam has seen the sharpest declines in maternal mortality rate (MMR) in the country – from 480 per lakh live births in 2006 to 125 in 2022.
Describing the “sharpest” drop in MMR as a historic milestone in the state’s healthcare journey, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday attributed the feat to five factors.
“This transformation reflects our unwavering commitment to maternal and child health — a journey I have personally been part of, first as health minister and now as chief minister. A matter of immense personal satisfaction. Every number in this decline represents a life saved, a mother embraced by her family, and a future made secure,” Sarma said, adding, “Assam is no longer the state with the highest MMR.”
Sarma thanked the efforts of the doctors, nurses, ASHA workers, and health officials across Assam for the achievement.
“The SRS (Sample Registration System) bulletin for 2020-22 published by the Central government has shown the MMR as 125. When we started the National Health Mission in Assam in 2006, our MMR was 480. We have now been successful in bringing it down to 125,” he said.
Assam recorded highest MMR (195) till the SRS report of 2018-20 but came down to 167 in SRS 2019-21 and saw a further drop in SRS 2020-22 – 125, a drop of 36 per cent in just 2 years, the highest drop in the country.
Infant Mortality rate has also has improved in the state. The IMR in 2005 was 68, way above the national IMR of 58. It dropped to 36 as per SRS 2020, to 34 in SRS 2021 and then to 32 as per SRS 2022.
The factors included improvement in health infrastructure, improvement in human resources in the health sector, motivated ASHA workers, improved health service delivery and social support programmes.
