With nearly 70 per cent fewer deaths among mothers, newborns, and children under five, Kerala has topped the Maternal and Child Health Indicators, according to a Sample Registration System (SRS) Report 2021 released by the Registrar General of India (RGI) on Wednesday.

The southern state has already met the 2030 health targets set under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in all three key areas: deaths of mothers during childbirth, newborn deaths, and deaths of children under five. The state’s current numbers are 20 maternal deaths, 4 newborn deaths, and 8 under-five deaths per 100,000 or 1,000 births—well below the targets of 70, 12, and 25, respectively.

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Besides Kerala, seven Indian states have kept maternal deaths during childbirth below the target of 70 per 100,000 live births—Maharashtra (38), Telangana (45), Andhra Pradesh (46), Tamil Nadu (49), Jharkhand (51), Gujarat (53), and Karnataka (63)—with Maharashtra recording the lowest among them.

In contrast, the national average for Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is still 23 points above the SDG target, despite a nearly 30% decline from 130 deaths per 100,000 live births (2014–16) to 93 deaths (2019–21), as reported in the SRS 2021 report.

Similarly, based on insights from the health ministry report, the country has seen a 26.9% drop in newborn deaths, falling from 26 per 1,000 live births in 2014 to 19 in 2021—but a further 36.8% reduction is still needed to reach the SDG target of 12 or fewer deaths.

Meanwhile, fewer states have managed to meet the SDG target for Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR), as per the data cited in the press statement. Following Kerala, which leads the chart, Delhi ranked second with 8 deaths per 1,000 live births, twice Kerala’s number. Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra followed in third and fourth place with 9 and 11 deaths, respectively. Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh shared the fifth spot, each recording 12 deaths—the exact threshold set by the SDG target.

While several states have seen significant improvements in Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR), the national average has declined from 45 in 2014 to 31 in 2021, still requiring a further 22.6% reduction to reach the 2030 target of 25.

Despite the need for further improvement, India’s progress so far in the reduction of Maternal and Child mortality indicators outpaces global averages, as claimed in the statement.