Looking at the newly released NFHS-5 summary reports. The overall trends in child mortality rates are very concerning! This is a first look, so inputs / corrections are very welcome!

NFHS reports child mortality over the five year period before the survey.

In Bihar, we see very little change in mortality rates over a substantial period.

Under-five mortality rate, per 1,000 births:
2010-2016: 58.1
2014-2020: 56.4

In Maharashtra, neonatal mortality actually increased according to the NFHS?!

(infant and child mortality basically the same)

In states of the North-East, Confidence Intervals for mortality rates may be large. But in some states, we are observing increases! This should not be happening.

Very little progress in Telangana too. Really, really concerning.

I missed Tripura in the other NE states. Again, confidence intervals likely wide, but this is not a small increase in mortality.

Thankfully, in other states, child mortality is declining, as it should be. But these slow declines / some increases are consistent with what we say in the Sample Registration System.

@_kanikas_, @ankitp654, Jean Dreze and I had documented reversals in IMR decline using year-to-year SRS reports, which are available until 2018: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/aqrfn/

As we say in our short note ( https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/aqrfn/), there is little precedent of this kind of stagnation in India's recent experience.