Abdul Rahman
In what is being described as an outstanding achievement for the Left-ruled southern state of Kerala recorded an infant mortality rate (IMR) of just 5 (per 1,000 live births), as per the latest report published by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (ORGI).
The IMR 5 is five times lower than the national IMR of 25 and better than most developed countries, such as the US, which recorded an IMR of 5.6 last year.
IMR is used as a health indicator for the number of deaths of children below one year of age per 1,000 live births. Lower IMR indicates better access to healthcare and is a significant indicator for development in any country.
For a country like India, with the world’s largest and poorest population, the IMR also indicates the penetration of public health in a society.
Kerala’s Minister of Health Veena George, said on social media that unlike the rest of India, which sees variation in the IMR between rural and urban areas, Kerala achieved a universal IMR rate across its regions.
George stated that the universal IMR in Kerala was due to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s attempts to provide access to healthcare to all its population irrespective of location and class.
She thanked the health workers and state officials for the feat, claiming her government is “proud” of achieving this milestone and will continue working to improve and widen the reach of public health.
Kerala is the only state in India with an infant mortality rate in a single digit. The state achieved the feat for the first time in 2018, when it was lowered to 7. Since then, it continued to fall gradually.
Unlike most other states in India, the LDF government in Kerala has made access to public healthcare to all its citizens one of its central priorities.
Despite highly inadequate central government funding and constant attempts to undermine public health programs, the LDF government in the state has mobilized funds to invest in building a general infrastructure of public hospitals and health centers all across the state to provide quality healthcare to all.
Talking about the special attention the LDF government in Kerala gives to healthcare, Arathi PM, who teaches at Mahatma Gandhi University, in Kottayam, told Peoples Dispatch that “the LDF government in Kerala initiated sixteen hospitals in the state that won national” certifications.
In several aspects, the LDF government in the state has been the first in India to implement advanced and focused-care programs, Arathi claimed.
Focused Approach to Public Health
The state government’s approach to public health has resulted in very high general health indicators and an overall improvement in the state’s Human Development Indicators (HDI). The state has the highest life expectancy in India and the greatest density of health workers, boasting 114 healthcare workers per 10,000 people.
Kerala’s Minister of Health also listed the initiatives undertaken by the state government in the last decade to decrease the IMR further, on the basis of a study conducted by the Kerala chapter of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics when the state’s IMR was stuck at 12 for years. Based on the findings of the study, the state government adopted a systematic approach to reducing the IMR.
Kerala maintains a proper infant death auditing. The state’s health department has focused on building infrastructure for neonatal care, such as appointing special nurses, building neonatal ICU’s, rigorous and periodic training for obstetricians, and investment in delivery points, among others.
Arathi says the initiatives are the state government’s attempts to create “mother-and-child-friendly hospitals”.
These facilities were established even in remote areas of the state as a part of building universal public healthcare.
The state government also launched a comprehensive newborn screening program to find any congenital defects among neonates. This included the “Hridayam” (“heart”) initiative in 2017 to screen infants to detect and treat congenial heart anomalies.
“Hridayam” played a significant role in reducing the IMR as congenital heart-related deaths reduced 41% in the first two years of its implementation.
Left’s Dedication to Public Health
Talking about the achievements in healthcare in Kerala, Arathi argues that it should be seen “as a political moment, a winning moment for all the struggles and resistance done by the left political parties to resist neoliberal economic policies and structural adjustment plans in the form of health sector reforms” in India.
“When the rest of the states in India withdrew from the state responsibility in ensuring social welfare, with limited possibilities in a federal system of governance; Kerala defended it politically and that had reflected in its policy interventions,” Arathi asserts.
Arathi states that “we have to identify Kerala’s achievements in health care or in any social welfare” domain, such as its move to eradicate extreme poverty in the state by the end of November this year, as a “moment of ideological victory of resistance against neoliberal economic policies.”
Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch
The IMR 5 is five times lower than the national IMR of 25 and better than most developed countries, such as the US, which recorded an IMR of 5.6 last year.
IMR is used as a health indicator for the number of deaths of children below one year of age per 1,000 live births. Lower IMR indicates better access to healthcare and is a significant indicator for development in any country.
For a country like India, with the world’s largest and poorest population, the IMR also indicates the penetration of public health in a society.
Kerala’s Minister of Health Veena George, said on social media that unlike the rest of India, which sees variation in the IMR between rural and urban areas, Kerala achieved a universal IMR rate across its regions.
George stated that the universal IMR in Kerala was due to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s attempts to provide access to healthcare to all its population irrespective of location and class.
She thanked the health workers and state officials for the feat, claiming her government is “proud” of achieving this milestone and will continue working to improve and widen the reach of public health.
Kerala is the only state in India with an infant mortality rate in a single digit. The state achieved the feat for the first time in 2018, when it was lowered to 7. Since then, it continued to fall gradually.
Unlike most other states in India, the LDF government in Kerala has made access to public healthcare to all its citizens one of its central priorities.
Despite highly inadequate central government funding and constant attempts to undermine public health programs, the LDF government in the state has mobilized funds to invest in building a general infrastructure of public hospitals and health centers all across the state to provide quality healthcare to all.
Talking about the special attention the LDF government in Kerala gives to healthcare, Arathi PM, who teaches at Mahatma Gandhi University, in Kottayam, told Peoples Dispatch that “the LDF government in Kerala initiated sixteen hospitals in the state that won national” certifications.
In several aspects, the LDF government in the state has been the first in India to implement advanced and focused-care programs, Arathi claimed.
Focused Approach to Public Health
The state government’s approach to public health has resulted in very high general health indicators and an overall improvement in the state’s Human Development Indicators (HDI). The state has the highest life expectancy in India and the greatest density of health workers, boasting 114 healthcare workers per 10,000 people.
Kerala’s Minister of Health also listed the initiatives undertaken by the state government in the last decade to decrease the IMR further, on the basis of a study conducted by the Kerala chapter of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics when the state’s IMR was stuck at 12 for years. Based on the findings of the study, the state government adopted a systematic approach to reducing the IMR.
Kerala maintains a proper infant death auditing. The state’s health department has focused on building infrastructure for neonatal care, such as appointing special nurses, building neonatal ICU’s, rigorous and periodic training for obstetricians, and investment in delivery points, among others.
Arathi says the initiatives are the state government’s attempts to create “mother-and-child-friendly hospitals”.
These facilities were established even in remote areas of the state as a part of building universal public healthcare.
The state government also launched a comprehensive newborn screening program to find any congenital defects among neonates. This included the “Hridayam” (“heart”) initiative in 2017 to screen infants to detect and treat congenial heart anomalies.
“Hridayam” played a significant role in reducing the IMR as congenital heart-related deaths reduced 41% in the first two years of its implementation.
Left’s Dedication to Public Health
Talking about the achievements in healthcare in Kerala, Arathi argues that it should be seen “as a political moment, a winning moment for all the struggles and resistance done by the left political parties to resist neoliberal economic policies and structural adjustment plans in the form of health sector reforms” in India.
“When the rest of the states in India withdrew from the state responsibility in ensuring social welfare, with limited possibilities in a federal system of governance; Kerala defended it politically and that had reflected in its policy interventions,” Arathi asserts.
Arathi states that “we have to identify Kerala’s achievements in health care or in any social welfare” domain, such as its move to eradicate extreme poverty in the state by the end of November this year, as a “moment of ideological victory of resistance against neoliberal economic policies.”
Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch
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