Jammu And Kashmir Has Registered Remarkable Improvement In Maternal, Child Health: Officials

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir has achieved “remarkable improvement” in multiple indicators related to maternal and child health in recent years, officials said on Sunday. In a single year, the Under Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) in the Union Territory has decreased from 21 to 17 points per 1,000 live births, they said quoting the Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report 2020 released on September 22 by the Registrar General of India (RGI).

The officials said the neo-natal mortality rate dropped from 15 to 12, early neo-natal mortality rate from 10 to 8 while sex ratio at birth increased from 918 to 921.

Jammu and Kashmir has already achieved the global target of reducing under-five mortality rate to less than 25 per 1,000 live births, they said.

Also Read: 10 Facts On The Status Of Girl Child And Women In India

The officials said the UT showed an “incremental performance” in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of good health and wellbeing of people.

The Health and Medical Education Department with active support from National Health Mission (NHM) has put strenuous efforts to provide essential newborn care at public health institutions across J-K through facility-Based and home-based newborn care interventions, they said.

They said the progress in scaling up the interventions to save the lives of the newborn has substantially accelerated during recent times leading to a significant improvement in various health Indicators.

Also Read: Less Number Of Women Delivered At Institutional Facilities Amid Covid, Says NITI Aayog Report

One of the comprehensive measures in this regard includes an action plan devised by the Health and Medical Education Department with support from the Union Health Ministry in the form of a road map for reducing the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in J-K to single digit, the officials said.

Moreover, adequate infrastructure is being built under the Emergency COVID Response Package which in the long run will help to further improve various health indicators across the Union Territory, they said.

Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department, Bhupinder Kumar appreciated the efforts of field functionaries for their continued efforts to improve maternal and new born care, which has resulted in landmark achievement in further reduction of child mortality rates.

Also Read: Meet Dr Rani Bang And Dr Abhay Bang, Pioneers Of Maternal And Child Health Among Tribal Communities

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.

[corona_data_new]