Reduction of IMR by just two points in India from 2011 to 2012 means India could save over fifty three thousand infants during the period

As per Government Reports, the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) across the country had declined to 44 in 2011 and then to 42 in the year 2012. The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of a population is the number of children dying before celebrating their first birth day out of one thousand numbers of children born. 

Crude Birth Rate for the year 2012 has been put on record as 21.6 (births per thousand population) and the 2011 census declared India’s final population as 1210.6 millions.  By simple arithmetic, one gets the number of infants dying in India are of the order of 1.12 millions in the year 2012.  Had the IMR not reduced by 0.2 percent, reduction of about fifty three thousand infants could not have been done. The major reduction was possible by having focused action by the government in EAG states as over three-fourth reduction was in these states.  Over 40% was done in one state only and that was in the State of Uttar Pradesh where about twenty two thousand infants were saved by taking action through mainly by making eligible pregnant ladies taking institutional deliveries and thus getting care of infants and then adopting immunization programme for the infants during first year of their lives.