ITANAGAR, 28 Nov: The infant mortality rate (IMR) in Arunachal Pradesh has declined from 22.9 deaths per 1,000 live births to 12.9 deaths per 1,000 live births during the last five years, according to the National Family Health Survey – 5 (NFSH-5) report released by the health & family welfare ministry.
The report, which was released on 24 November, said that 56.6 percent of the children aged between 6 and 59 months in the state are anaemic, while only 22 percent of the children aged 6-23 months received adequate diet.
While the under-five mortality rate too has seen a decline from 32.9 deaths per 1,000 live births to 18.8 per 1,000 live births, neonatal mortality has seen a marginal decrease from 11.8 to 7.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in the sate during that period, the survey said.
The sex ratio of the total population in the state is 997 females against 1,000 males, while the sex ratio at birth of the children born in the last five years stands at 979 females per 1,000 males – a significant improvement from 926 during 2015-16, the survey said.
The population below the age of 15 years has seen a 4 percent decline (from 31.7 percent to 27.1 percent) during the last five years.
The total fertility rate stands at 1.8 children per woman – a marginal decline from 2.1 during 2015-19.
On gender-based violence, the survey said that the percentage of ever-married women aged 18-49 years who have ever experienced spousal violence stands at 24.8 – a slight decline from 31 percent during 2015-16.
The percentage of young women aged 18 to 29 years in the state who experienced sexual violence by age 18 is 0.7. The percentage of women who worked in the last 12 months and were paid in cash stands at 23.5.
The survey said that 18.8 percent of women aged 15 years and above use any kind of tobacco and 24.2 percent of them use any kind of alcohol.
In case of men aged 15 years and above, 50.3 percent use any kind of tobacco and 52.7 percent use any kind of alcohol.
On HIV/AIDS, it said, only 12.3 percent of the women have comprehensive knowledge about the disease, while in the case of men, the percentage is 33.4.
The NFHS-5 fieldwork for Arunachal was conducted from 13 January, 2020 to 21 March, 2020, prior to the lockdown, and from 7 December, 2020 to 19 April, 2021 post lockdown by Ipsos Research Pvt Ltd.
Information was gathered from 18,268 households, 19,765 women, and 2,881 men. Due to the Covid-19 situation and the imposition of lockdown, NFHS-5 fieldwork in Phase 2 states/UTs was conducted in two parts, the ministry said in the release.
