Guwahati: Nine out of every 10 births in Assam are attended by skilled health personnel, and 87.6% births in the state take place at healthcare institutions, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday.The CM praised the efforts of the state govt and healthcare workers, citing encouraging trends from the recently-released National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6) data.He said such figures are a sign of growing trust in the state’s healthcare system and continued progress in maternal and child care.As per the NFHS-6 data for the 2023-24 survey, a total of 90.7% births in Assam were attended by skilled health personnel. This is almost on par with the national average of 91.3%. In case of institutional births in Assam, the rate is 87.6% against the corresponding national average of 90.6%.“A stronger healthcare system is reflected in life’s most important moments. Today, nearly 9 out of every 10 births in Assam are attended by skilled health personnel, while 87.6% take place in healthcare institutions, a sign of growing trust in our healthcare system and continued progress in maternal and child care,” Sarma wrote on ‘X’.In case of births attended by skilled health personnel (including doctors, nurses or other health personnel) and institutional births, Assam has shown improvement over the years. In NFHS-5 for 2019-21, the percentage of institutional births reported in Assam was 84.1, while the percentage of births attended by skilled health personnel was 86.1.However, a rural-urban divide is visible in terms of institutional deliveries and births attended by skilled healthcare personnel. In urban areas, the survey recorded 95.4% institutional births, against a 86.9% in rural areas. In urban areas, 95.7% births are attended by skilled health personnel, while the corresponding figure for the rural belt has been 90.2%.
