'Health status of a nation can be assessed by IMR, MMR'

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today said that the status of healthcare of any country could be assessed by its statistics of Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR).
Apart from this, implementation of programmes like pulse polio immunization for polio eradication also play a significant role in reflecting the health status of the country, the Chief Minister said while addressing a gathering after administering pulse polio drops to children.
He inaugurated the first National Immunization Round of Pulse Polio 2015 at his residence here today.
Khattar administered polio drops to 12 children in the age group of 0 to 5 years, a statement said.

"Though our country is polio free yet the health department needs to remain always alert towards polio eradication with the help of agencies like World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, National Rural Health Mission etc," he said.
Additional Chief Secretary Health Ram Niwas apprised the Chief Minister of a target that has been set to administer polio drops to about 40 lakh children under this three-day campaign.

As many as 16,000 polio booths have been set up and 66,000 vaccinators have been deployed there.
The activity will be supervised by 3,300 officers and 1,500 mobile teams will visit brick kilns, construction sites, nomadic sites and far-fledged areas to vaccinate all high risk population.

Ram Niwas informed that one case of polio was found in Nuh town of Mewat in 2010.
After that no case of polio has come to light, he said.
He said that directions have been issued to Deputy Commissioners and medical officers in all districts by preparing micro scheme to eradicate polio.
Niwas said that now IMR is reduced to 28 as compared to 41 earlier.
"Similarly, MMR was 146 as per census 2011 and a target has been set to bring it down to 80," he said.