The under-reporting of the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) appears to be the reason for the low figures in Kalaburagi district.
Official sources told The Hindu here recently that the MMR and IMR from April to December last year was 116 deaths per 1 lakh deliveries and 17 per 1,000 live births respectively.
But the actual figures of both appear to be more the official data.
The national average MMR, as per the 2014 statistical report, was 144 per 1 lakh deliveries and IMR was 37 per 1,000 live births. Karnataka’s average for MMR was 133 per 1 lakh deliveries and 28 per 1,000 live births.
Deaths of the mothers and the infants in non-institutional deliveries go unreported.
‘ Poor networking’
Sources said that the under-reporting was mainly due to the poor networking of the ASHA health workers who seldom report these deaths to the Health Department.
The sources also added that private hospitals also fail to report these deaths for various reasons to the Health Department as required as by government norms.
“If all the deaths are reported correctly to the Health Department we can take remedial measures,” said a senior official in the department.
During April to January, 2017, only two cases of MMR were reported in Afzalpur and 12 in Chittapur taluk.
As many as nine cases were reported in Kalaburagi (Rural) and Kalaburagi (Urban).
Aland and Jewargi reported five cases and four were reported in Sedam and three in Chincholi taluk during the period.
There were 708 cases of IMR across the district during that period. The highest was 553 in Kalaburagi (Urban). As many as 45 cases were reported in Aland, 35 in Afzalpur, 17 in Jewargi, 15 in Chincholi, 20 in Kalaburagi (Rural), 13 in Sedam and 10 in Chittapur taluk.
During the period, 45 children, between 1 to 5, died in the district.
The highest number of deaths was 22 in Kalaburagi (Urban), followed by seven each in Afzalpur and Aland, five in Jewargi, three in Kalaburagi Rural and one in Sedam taluk.
