Madhya Pradesh tops child mortality, malnutrition rates

BHOPAL - Madhya Pradesh tops the child mortality and malnutrition rates among children in the country, a central health ministry report has said.

The latest report of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) says that Madhya Pradesh has also fared poor in the mother mortality rate, remaining behind three states.

According to the NRHM, which works under the central ministry of health and family welfare, malnutrition among children is most prevalent in Madhya Pradesh. Here 60 out of 100 children suffer from malnutrition while the national average is a mere 42.

At the other end of the spectrum are Sikkim and Mizoram witb a mere 19 percent. While they remain at the bottom of the chart, Kerala and Manipur at 22 percent jointly hold the second position from the bottom.

The 2010 report also says that child mortality rate in Madhya Pradesh is 70 out of 1,000 children born while the national average is 53. Kerala (12) has the most healthy record in this area. Tamil Nadu (31) and Maharastra (33) are second and third respectively from the bottom.

Again, Madhya Pradesh is only behind Bihar, Utter Pradesh and Rajisthan in mother mortality, the NRHM report says. While 100,000 children were born, 335 mothers lost their lives in the state. The national average is 254.

However, S.R. Mohanty, the state health department secretary, feels that Madhya Pradesh is doing fine. “The state has tried hard to reduce the mother and child mortality rates. Earlier, 73 percent of women used to give birth at home. Now its only 19 percent,” he says.

Recently, the Asian Human Rights Commission also voiced concern over increasing cases of malnutrition in the state.