Himachal Pradesh Registers Maximum Pregnant Women For Ante-Natal Check-Ups, Beats Tamil Nadu And Delhi

The hill state of Himachal Pradesh reportedly beat other progressive states like Tamil Nadu (second place) and Delhi (third place) to register the highest decline in neonatal mortality rate, as reported by The Indian Express. The mortality rate among babies aged less than four weeks declined by a massive 15.8 per cent.

In recognising this achievement, the state was presented with an award at the 5th National Summit on “Good & Replicable Practices & Innovations in Public HealthCare Systems in India.” Reportedly this was possible because the state also brought in the most number of pregnant women for ante-natal check-ups to the PMSMA clinics and was conferred with an award for the same in July 2018. Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritav Abhiyan, (PMSMA) a NDA govt’s scheme launched in 2016, to provide free health check-ups to pregnant women at government health centres and hospitals.

The Summit also awarded Kerala, Mizoram and Karnataka for recording the highest decline in overall Infant Mortality Rate (IFR). IFR is the number of deaths per 1,000 live births of children under one year of age.

According to a UN report released this year, India’s under-5 mortality rate has fallen to global average 39 deaths per 1,000 live births. Improving the health outcomes of infants and pregnant women has been a priority of the PM Modi government.