• NET Web Desk

The northeastern state of Meghalaya have registered an improvement in the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), as informed by the latest statistics released by stare government.

According to the statistics, 1,549 infants lost their lives from March-October this year. While, during March-October 2020, a total of 1,982 infants lost their lives.

It’s worthy to note that IMR has been considered as the major indicator of poor health scenario of a country or region. It depicts the number of children dying at less than 1 year of age, divided by number of live births recorded in that specific year.

However, the total maternal deaths have come down to 158 during March-October 2020, compared to 164, evaluated during the same period last year.

According to Shillong Times report, the total reported deliveries in 2020 (March-October) was 56,622 while the total reported deliveries during the same period this year was 53,143.

The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is defined as the number of maternal deaths during a given time period per 100,000 live births during the same time period.

Expressing immediate concern on IMR & MMR, the National Health Mission (NHM) Mission Director Ram Kumar asserted that concerned issues must become significant topics of conversation to generate awareness among women for averting early pregnancy, thereby maintaining a considerable gap between the births of two children.