Infant and Child Mortality
Table D 5 shows that a number of significant
indicators in terms of neonatal, infant, under-5 and child mortality rates (CMRs)
were all well below the all-India
figures in 1998-99, the difference in most cases amounting to more than 30
percentage points. The West Bengal IMR of that year was 49 per 1000 live births
as compared to 68 for the country as a whole. These figures , however, have to
be seen against India's National Population Policy goal of reducing IMR to 30 by
2010. Community-wise gender-based IMRs for rural and urban areas in West Bengal
and India as a whole are shown in Table D 6. For each category
(rural-urban/male- female ), ST and SC IMRs were higher in 1991 as compared to
total population, even though these two communities fared marginally better in
West Bengal. District-wise figures for male and female IMR, CMR and LEB
will be found in Appendix table AD 1.Female disadvantage in survival,
specially in the age group 0-4 years can be clearly seen in Appendix Table AD 3,
with estimated death rates for this age group disaggregated by rural urban
residence.
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Table
D 4 :Infant and Child Mortality : West
Bengal and India |
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SRS:
1991 |
NFHS 2: 1998-99 |
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West
Bengal |
West
Bengal |
India |
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1.
Neo-natal Mortality Rate |
R |
48.0 |
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_ |
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U |
24.7 |
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R+U |
43.6 |
31.9 |
43.4 |
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2.
Post-natal Mortality Rate |
R |
28.1 |
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U |
21.9 |
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R+U |
26.9 |
16.8 |
24.2 |
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3.
Infant Mortality Rate |
R+U |
71 |
48.7 |
67.6 |
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4.
Under-5 Mortality Rate |
R+U |
_ |
67.6 |
94.9 |
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5.
Child Mortality Rate |
R+U |
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19.9 |
29.3 |
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6.
Still Birth Rate |
R |
13.6 |
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(per 1000 births) |
U |
7.2 |
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R+U |
12.4 |
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Note:
- SRS : Sample Registration System. |
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Sl. 1: Probability of dying within the first month of life. |
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Sl. 2: Difference between infant mortality and neo natal
mortality (or infant deaths between 28 days & one year) |
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Sl. 3: Probability of dying between birth and exact
age of 1year |
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Sl. 4: Probability of dying between birth & 5th
birthday. |
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Sl. 5: Probability of dying between 1st & 5th
birthdays. |
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All five rates are calculated per 1000 live births. |
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Source;
- Govt. of West Bengal, Family
Welfare Statistics At a Glance: West Bengal (1995),Table 15;NFHS 2, West Bengal
Preliminary Report, August 2000, Table 16 and NFHS 2 India (1998-99), Table 6.6. Table
D 5 |
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Community-wise
Infant Mortality Rates : West Bengal and India |
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1991
Census |
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IMR (General) |
IMR (ST) |
IMR
(SC) |
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W. Bengal |
India |
W.
Bengal |
India |
W.
Bengal |
India |
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Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
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Total |
65 |
69 |
71 |
75 |
77 |
88 |
84 |
72 |
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Rural |
70 |
74 |
79 |
82 |
78 |
89 |
89 |
75 |
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Urban |
52 |
48 |
48 |
48 |
56 |
70 |
62 |
56 |
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Source:
- S. Irudaya Rajan & P. Mahanachandran, "Infant and Child Mortality Estimates-Part I", EPW, 9 May
1998, pp. 1120-1140. |
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A
welcome trend in West Bengal is the fall in the under-five mortality rates ; a
decline of 24 per cent between 1981 and 1991.However, average figures seem to
conceal a disturbing feature, as shown in Agnihotri's recent study of
gender-differentiated mortality patterns in West Bengal districts, based on 1991
census data. The six districts of West Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia and North and South 24 Parganas are seen to form a contiguous
cluster of high mortality rates for under-five girls, ranging from 66 to 107 in
the urban localities of these districts. In contrast, the comparable male rates
varied between 47 and 74.This pattern can be seen in our District Mortality Map
reproduced from the above study.[i]
This finding obviously calls for closer scrutiny and more focussed remedial
action.