Infant mortality rose after DeMo, Covid may cause another setback: Study

According to the paper, overall infant mortality increased in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and stagnated for at least a year in seven other states

India’s efforts at reducing infant mortality rate (IMR) faltered after demonetisation in 2016, according to a study by economists Jean Drèze, Aashish Gupta, Sai Ankit Parashar and Kanika Sharma. They found that the annual rate of decline in IMR, which was 4.8 per cent per year between 2005 and 2016, fell to 2.9 per cent in 2017 and 3.1 per cent in 2018. 

The study warns that another setback is likely this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown, which caused a major disruption in health services such as antenatal care and child immunisation.

Between 2005 and 2016,