Gurugram’s infant mortality rate halves in five years

The infant mortality rate (IMR) of Gurugram district and Haryana has improved over the past five years, shows the samples registration survey data released by the Registrar General of India in May this year.

The IMR, which is the number of deaths of children under the age of one year per 1000 live births across public and private hospitals, dropped for Gurugram to 11 in 2018-19 from 13 in 2016-17, the data shows. No data was provided for the year 2017-18 in the survey.

For two years before that—2015-16 and 2016-17—the IMR for the district was 13. This figure was 20 for the year 2014-15 and 23 in 2013-14.

According to district health department officials, the IMR decreased in Gurugram due to better health infrastructure, such as neo-natal ICUs and special care newborn units.

The Sector 10 Civil Hospital currently has both these units with a capacity of 10 beds, each, Gurugram chief medical officer Dr BK Rajora said, adding, “An increase in institutional deliveries and better newborn care at government hospitals has led to the decrease in the rate.”

The IMR for Haryana also decreased in 2018-19 as compared to the previous years. The state’s IMR was 30 in 2018-19, 33 in 2016-17, 36 in 2015-16 and 2014-15 and 41 in 2013-14.

However, Haryana’s IMR in 2019 was the second highest in north India, just behind Rajasthan’s IMR of 38, whereas Punjab and Delhi recorded an IMR of 21 and 16, respectively.

The highest IMR across the country was reported from Madhya Pradesh (47), followed by Assam (44) and Odisha (41). Bihar and Chhattisgarh had an IMR of 33 and 35, respectively.

According to state health department officials, most infant deaths are caused by sepsis, rotavirus infections and pneumonia. They said to avoid complications from these infections, the immunisation coverage across state was strengthened in the last two years. “Last year, rotavirus and the pneumococcal vaccine were made available free of cost,” state director for maternal and child health Dr VK Bansal said, adding that neo-natal ambulances have also been made available in five regions of the state.