Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh has admitted that there is a high infant mortality rate (IMR) in the remote villages of the State.
Speaking to media persons here today, Lyngdoh said that there is still a need to look at some serious issues in order to reduce the death of newborn babies.
“We have somehow reduced the maternal mortality rate in distant places,” she said.
According to Lyngdoh, in some community and rural development blocks of the State, there are just three maternal deaths, whereas there are 114 infant deaths.
According to her, the basic problem here is convincing mothers to come for institutional deliveries and convincing them to accept immunisation to protect the lives of their children
“I also feel that this issue needs to be dealt with aggressively. We have to partner a little more with all of our stakeholders. Breaking down messages is very important. We cannot send messages which are complicated and difficult for people to understand,’ Lyngdoh said.
She also said that the administration is still quite far from distant places even though the government has created several community and rural development blocks.
“So now we have to motivate the bureaucracy and government officials and we have to make sure that we penetrate directly to the last man standing in that last mile,” she added.
Lyngdoh said that she is continuously visiting primary health centres and community health centres to take stock of the healthcare situation.
