Karnataka - Gulbarga   

Infant Mortality Rate still high in Gulbarga district

GULBARGA: Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) continues to be high in the district, while pre-natal care is still a far cry for pregnant women.

The draft Human Development Report for Gulbarga district throws light on the sad state of affairs on the health front in the district. The IMR in Gulbarga district continues to be high at 67 for 1000 births, exceeding the State average of 55 and the national average of 64.

The reasons cited for this is low literacy rate among women, poverty, early marriage, high birth rate and poor nutrition of pregnant women.

The lack of pre-natal care for pregnant women is more telling in the district and as per the findings of the study conducted by the Health and Family Welfare Department, the percentage of women with adequate folic acids in the district is only little more than 36 per cent.

Another reason cited for the high IMR is little access to pre-natal care, underweight babies and unsafe deliveries.

As per official figures, only 30 per cent of deliveries are in hospitals and unsafe deliveries continue to be at more than 50 per cent.

The study also reveals that the number of underweight newborn babies is high at 583 out of every 1000 babies. About 56.4 per cent of these babies are girls.

The study says that around 59 per cent of girls get married before 18 years of age in the district.

Among the 10 taluks, Chincholi ranks top with more than 70 per cent of women without adequate level of folic acids and iron content, and only 20 per cent of the deliveries were conducted in the hospitals in Jewargi.

Only in Afzalpur, Gulbarga and Jewargi taluks, more than 50 per cent of women have adequate level of folic acid and iron.

Demographic trends over the years in Gulbarga district present an interesting picture.

The decadal population growth in Gulbarga district, which was lower than the State average during 1951-61, had been higher than the State average in the next four decades.

It was 21.20 per cent during 1991-01, whereas the State’s population growth was only 17.1 per cent.

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