India is nearing its Millennium Development Goals for health parameters like reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and has been able to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS, according to a Health Ministry statement in Lok Sabha today.
Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel, in a written statement in Parliament, cited the 'India HIV Estimations 2015' report prepared by the National Institute of Medical Statistics, which states that the country has successfully halted and reversed the HIV epidemic.
"Between 2000 and 2015, the new HIV infections dropped from 2.51 lakhs to 86 thousand, a reduction of 66 per cent. Similarly, AIDS-related deaths have declined to 54 per cent from 2007-2015," the statement said.
Combating HIV and AIDS is part of MDG 6.
According the the statement, in terms of MDG-4 on reducing child mortality, India has achieved Under-5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) of 45 per 1000 live births during 2014. This means India is 3 points away from its target of 42 per 1000 live births in 2015 from 126 per 1000 live births in 1990.
With regard to MDG-5 on improving maternal health, the target is to reduce Maternal Mortality Ratio by three quarters between 1990 and 2015. For India it means reducing MMR from 556 per 1,00,000 live births in 1990 to 139 in 2015. India has achieved MMR of 167, as per the Health Ministry.
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