Rural-urban divide stands exposed as IMR, U5MR goals fall short

Hyderabad: The Telangana State has scored on achieving the required target of a Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) of less than 70. It has also met the target Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of 28 per 1,000 live births in urban areas. However, it fell short when it came to the rural areas.

The CAG's latest report under the category of Sustainable Development Goal-3 points out that while achieving the target of Under-5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) of 25 per 1,000 live births in urban areas, Telangana fell short of this goal in rural areas.

Highlighting these in its report focusing on the performance audit report on Public Health Infrastructure and Management of Health Services, the CAG said the monthly per capita out-of-pocket expenditure on health in the State is higher than the national average. Against the target of 45 health professionals per 10,000 population to be achieved, the availability of health professionals was only 10 per 10,000 and thus, Telangana was far behind the target.

As per the NITI Aayog SDG Index 2021, Telangana had a score of 67. Telangana has performed well in aspects of Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), Immunisation, IMR, U5MR, Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR), and Institutional Deliveries.

However, still there is scope for improvement concerning certain indicators, viz., Total Physicians, Nurses and Midwives per 10,000 population, Suicide Mortality Rate, Death Rate due to Road Traffic Accidents, Caesarian Deliveries etc.

The CAG recommended the State Government to take all the necessary measures to address the issues of higher Infant Mortality Rate, U5MR and Neonatal Mortality rate in rural areas, Suicide Mortality Rate and Deaths due to Road Traffic Accidents in Telangana.