One in every 15 infants dies in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, Oct 21 (UNI) One in every 15 children in Orissa die within the first year of their birth while one in every 11 die before they reach the age of five years, according to an official survey.

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), 2005-06, conducted under the stewardship of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, stated that as many as 65 in every 1,000 infants die before they reach the age of one year in the state, against the national average of 57 per 1,000.

Though the IMR in Orissa plummeted from 112 in 1992 to 81 in 1998 and 65 in 2005, it is still higher than the national estimates. The under-five mortality rate is 91 deaths per 1,000 live births.

As many as 4,540 women in the age group of 15 to 49 and 1,592 men in the age group of 15-54 were interviewed from several households to reach the conclusion.

Uttar Pradesh has the highest Infant Mortality Rate in the country with 73 deaths per 1,000 births, closely followed by Chhattisgarh (71 deaths per 1,000 births). Madhya Pradesh comes third with 70 deaths per 1,000 births. Goa and Kerela have the lowest IMR with only 15 deaths per 1,000 births.

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