Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said the infant mortality rate in the state has steadily decreased and his government is making efforts to reduce it further. "The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of Rajasthan has also come down continuously in the last three years due to improvements made in health facilities across the state by our government," Gehlot tweeted.
"The IMR was 41 in 2017-18, which has now come down to 30.4. We will continue to make efforts to reduce it further," he added referring to the number of deaths per 1,000 births. While sharing a photo of a Kota hospital, Gehlot wrote, "There was a lot of discussion in the media about the tragic death of newborns in Kota's J K Lone Hospital in 2019." "Our government then decided to change the situation and today I am satisfied that J K Lone Hospital in Kota has become a model hospital," he said.
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The chief minister said the teams that came on inspection from the central government have also praised the hospital. Compared with 2018, in 2021, 60 per cent more patients were admitted to the hospital's neonatal and 19 per cent more to the paediatric departments. Despite this, the mortality rate in both these departments has come down by about 66 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively, he added.
PTI
