Link to India Growth Story – Progress, Myths, Looking Ahead – 1 of 5

In Part 1, I covered India’s progress on Life Expectancy. Let’s move on to IMR and Child Mortality Rate in this second installment.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year. It was ~200 in 1950s. Came down to 35 in 2016. This is another area we have made significant progress. But we are still below than other comparable countries and good amount of work to do. All depends on how much our government allocates for Health in the budget plan. We lag behind Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. And Japan. Japan is way out there with a rate of 2, which is awesome. Between Japan’s 2 and India’s 35, to call out the dialogue from a famous masala movie, we are losing Pichais, Nadellas, Einsteins, Gandhis, Ambedkars, and Periyars.

Source: The World Bank: Health, Nutrition, Population: Health at a Glance

From the graphic above, we went From 165 in 1960 to 35 in 2016! which means the programs are working. Credit goes to dedicated nurses and doctors plus the improvements in infrastructure FWIW.

Mortality rate, under-5, is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified year. Similar to IMR, we made progress, came down from 246 in 1960 to 43 in 2016, but we still have a good amount of ground to cover. Think about the dialogue from that famous masala movie to see what we are missing. If we could just get the population healthy with all basic needs met, and equal access, they will do wonders. Only if…

Source: The World Bank: Health, Nutrition, Population: Health at a Glance

Maybe we are losing them due to a combination of not enough Primary Healthcare centers (PHCs), nurses, and  doctors, and hygiene related diseases (diarrhea, malaria, …). We need increased budget allocation for health from both state and central governments, potable water supply, basic sanity awareness, and clean environment (underground sewage, garbage clearance, and pest control). Not enough PHCs means immunization not reaching them. Which takes us to immunization.

Immunization, DPT, measures the percentage of children ages 12-23 months who received DPT vaccinations before 12 months or at any time before the survey. A child is considered adequately immunized against diphtheria, pertussis (or whooping cough), and tetanus (DPT) after receiving three doses of vaccine. Measles, measures the percentage of children ages 12-23 months who received the measles vaccination before 12 months or at any time before the survey. A child is considered adequately immunized against measles after receiving one dose of vaccine.

Not too far back, in 1980, our immunization reach was at 6% (for DPT), and now it stands at 88%. Isn’t that significant progress? This correlates well with IMR and child mortality rate going down with a steady progress. We are still 12 points away from 100%. Again, remember the dialogue from that masala movie 🙂

DPT

Measles:

Source: The World Bank: Health, Nutrition, Population: Health at a glance

If we look at progress of IMR, CMR, and Immunization reach together, only then we could fully appreciate the dedicated and tireless effort that has come from our nurses, doctors, PHCs, and government hospitals. Plus the whole infrastructure related to it – supply, cold storage, and delivery. They are our unsung heroes.

[TO BE CONTINUED…]