Uttarakhand has performed well while its neighbour Uttar Pradesh has done poorly on key health indicators released on Friday as per the findings of Annual Health Survey (AHS) in 284 districts of nine States, which constitute 50 per cent of India’s population.
According to the survey conducted by the Registrar General of India on behalf of the Health Ministry, while Shrasvati district of Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of 100, three districts of Almora, Pithoragarh and Rudraprayag in Uttarakhand recorded a comparatively low IMR of 20.
IMR is the number of deaths of children less than one year of age per 1,000 live births. AHS was conducted in Empowered Action Group states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Rajasthan, besides Assam.
Uttarakhand also recorded the lowest MMR (162) and Assam the highest of 347 among states. Garhwal HQ (155) in Uttarakhand had the lowest MMR and Faizabad Mandal (437) in Uttar Pradesh the highest MMR. It is the ratio of the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
In the Under Five Mortality Rate (U5MR), Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand recorded the lowest of 23 while Kandhamal district of Odisha had the highest of 142.
Seven districts of Purbi Singhbhum, Dhanbad and Bokaro (Jharkhand); Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh and Almora (Uttarakhand) have already achieved the MDG-4 National target of 28.
The AHS is conducted in all the 284 districts (as per 2001 Census) in eight Empowered Action Group States and Assam for a three year period (a Baseline Survey followed by two updation surveys) spread over 2010-11 to 2012-13.