Assam's Infant Mortality Rate falls from 49 to 29 in two decades: Himanta

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on June 6, said the state's Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has declined significantly over the past two decades, attributing the improvement to stronger maternal and child healthcare services and welfare initiatives.

In a post on social media platform X, the Chief Minister said Assam's IMR had fallen from 49 in 2004 to 29 in 2024, marking substantial progress in child healthcare outcomes across the state.

"A decade ago, too many families in Assam faced the heartbreak of losing a child in infancy. Today, our Infant Mortality Rate has fallen from 49 in 2004 to 29 in 2024, driven by stronger mother-and-child healthcare facilities, better services and welfare schemes," Sarma said.

The Chief Minister described the decline as encouraging progress while noting that more work remains to be done to further improve healthcare indicators.

Sarma credited the improvement to enhanced healthcare infrastructure, better access to maternal and child health services, and the implementation of various welfare schemes aimed at reducing infant deaths and improving healthcare delivery.

Infant Mortality Rate is a key health indicator that measures the number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births.