Kerala tops in maternal, child health
- According to the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) special bulletin on maternal mortality in India (2017-19), brought out by the office of the Registrar General of India, Kerala’s MMR has dropped by 12 points.
- The last SRS bulletin (2015-17) had put the State’s MMR at 42 (later adjusting it to 43).
- This puts Kerala way ahead of the national MMR of 103. Another State which has made significant gains is Maharashtra, whose MMR dipped from 55 to 38.
- Kerala’s achievement is a result of a decade of sustained efforts and taking up targeted initiatives to tackle each of these.
- It developed the quality standards in obstetric care, in partnership with NICE International and specialists in 2012-13 and focused on the management of common causes of maternal deaths — postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), sepsis and amniotic fluid embolism.
