IMR and MMR in Punjab substantially less than national average

Chandigarh, March 4, 2013: At present the IMR in the State is 30 against the National average of 44 per 1000 live births and the MMR (per 100,000 live births) is 172 against the National average of 212.

This was stated by Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Madan Mohan Mittal, here today.

He said that the Health Department is taking various steps to further reduce the Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Ratio in the State. A special initiative for tracking and line listing of severe anaemic pregnant
women has already been launched in the state under the aegis of National Rural Health Mission, Punjab. Under the program all
severely anaemic women (i.e. those with HB below 7 mg) are tracked and line listed for providing timely medical intervention. All the Primary Health Centers and Sub-centers have been provided necessary equipments and reagents for estimation of hemoglobin of the pregnant women and all the districts have been asked to ensure the regular supply of necessary drugs.

He told that in order to give a boost to the scheme, Punjab Government has approved an incentive of Rs 250/- per case to ASHA workers for ensuring treatment and care of severe anaemic women. Any pregnant women whose Hemoglobin is found to be less than 7 mg at the time of Ante-natal check up is considered to be severely anaemic. Health Minister added that all concerned health workers have already been issued detailed guidelines in local language for effective management of such cases and a review is carried out on quarterly basis.

Divulging another details, Vini Mahajan, Principal Secretary, Health said that that 3411 ASHA workers have been incentivised till December 2012 for ensuring medical care of anaemic women. Furthermore, 655 ASHA’s have also been provided incentives under a separate scheme, wherein they have contributed in ensuring low birth weight infants (i.e. babies having a weight less than 2.5 kg at the time to birth), to gain a weight of 2 kg within first three months. Punjab has been successful in bringing a substantial decline in its key health indicators like Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in the recent year. The Government is making consistent efforts to bring further reduction in these indicators by initiating various proactive measures and schemes with special focus on healthcare for women and children in the state.