New Delhi: At least 13 African countries have better infant mortality rates (IMR) than India, according to World Bank data.
This revelation comes amid criticism that Prime Minister Narendra unfavorably compared IMR of Kerala’s tribal population with that of Somalia, a country located in the Horn of Africa.
Five of the 13 countries—Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Algeria—are from relatively prosperous Arab north Africa, but there are countries in central and southern Africa that are poorer than India but have a better infant mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 births).
Libya, a war-ravaged nation, has Africa’s lowest IMR, 12, which is the same as Kerala. Libya is followed by Tunisia (13). Goa and Manipur report India’s best IMR, 10, according to government data.
Madhya Pradesh’s IMR (56) is India’s worst. States ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) do worse than Africa’s safest countries for child birth. For instance, Gujarat has an IMR of 38 and Rajasthan, 49.
Madagascar and Kenya, with an IMR of 38, were closest to—and better than—India (42). Both countries have lower per capita income than India, according to World Bank data. Uganda, with a per capita income that is roughly half that of India’s, is the only African country with the same IMR as India’s—42. These data underline a frequently made point that India’s health and human-development record lags its economic growth.
There are some African countries with among the world’s highest IMRs, such as Angola, where 101 infants die for every 1,000 that are born. Somalia’s IMR is 85.
The U.N. in 2011 noted that Somali children were more likely to die before they turn 5 than those in any other country in the world.
Somalia’s child mortality rate in 2010 stood at 180 deaths per 1,000 live births. That now ranks as the worst in the world. Analysts also say even more children are dying now because of widespread famine and disease.
A UN press release said less than a third of 1-year-olds are immunized against deadly diseases, and more than 70 percent of the population doesn’t have clean water.
The U.N. had declared six areas in south-central Somalia famine zones.
(This article originally appeared on IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit.)