New Delhi, July 15: India has a neo-natal mortality rate of 36 per thousand live births with the maximum cases being reported from the states of Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.
Both MP and Orissa have a neo-natal mortality rate of 49 per thousand live births.
The lowest rate was in Kerala which had only seven neo-natal deaths per thousand live births, the Lok Sabha was informed today.
The primary causes of neo-natal deaths are sepsis, low birth weight and asphyxia, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said in reply to a written question.
Azad said as per the report, ‘Countdown to 2015: Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival (2008)’, India is among the 68 priority countries which have to accelerate the pace of decline of their maternal and infant mortality to be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
According to the report, India has an Infant Mortality Rate of 57 per thousand live births.
–Agencies