India’s maternal mortality rate is more than six times, and
infant mortality rate more than four times, that of the United States.
1. Values for year 2019 as estimated by UN. 2. Values for 2017 or 2018 as per data availability. 3. Values for most recent year available (differ by 3-4 years).
Note: Wasting and underweight are defined as being below 2 SD of WHO's child growth standard.
Source: WHO, UNICEF, national country surveys
Each year, over 25,000 women die due to pregnancy or childbirth complications, or three every hour. For every thousand babies born, about 32 will die before they are one year old. Of the kids who survive, one in three will be malnourished —stunted or wasted.
At an all-India level, almost a million children under-five die every year. This amounts to ~25% of the world’s malnourished children, disproportionately higher than India’s birth cohort share of 17%.
The tragedy is that most of these deaths are preventable. Proven solutions like iron fortification, breastfeeding, antenatal and neonatal care exist – but are not available to every mother and child.
The Challenge
The Antara Foundation Model
The Antara Foundation (TAF) believes scale is the missing ingredient in public health delivery. Scale is achieved with innovations that address the demand and supply sides, and is supported by efforts that create an enabling ecosystem.
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